The Dance
by ILoveJess1
Summary: Lit.Takes place in and after Presenting Lorelai Gilmore,Jess pays Rory a visit during dance lesson.Rory thinks about everybody's favorite bad boy!Who's Rory's escort?!
1. The dance lesson Fred and Ginger

Disclaimer:I don't own the Gilmore Girls ,or anything in relation other than the books:)Please don't sue me I'm just a fan.  
"So,how's it going?" Mom whispered as Miss Patty went outside for a smoke.  
"Actually,I'm not very good." I confessed.  
"Yeah,which is really holding me back,because I'm a natural."Dean added.  
"Well,maybe you just need a glittery glove and a really freaky face."Mom said.  
"At one point,Miss Patty thought Dean was gonna get hurt,she made me sit in the corner and watch."I told her.  
"Hey,nobody puts baby in a corner."she said in mock-outrage.  
"It's not your fault,"Dad said trying to console us."Ballroom dancing is a wonderfully sexist thing.Any woman can do it.All she needs is a strong male lead.No offense,Dean."he playfully twirled and dipped my mom,who didn't quite follow,and they got a little tangled up."Well almost any woman can do it."  
"I wasn't ready,I wasn't ready.Mom protested."I want a do-over."  
"Fine."Dad stepped away from Mom,turned on the music,and verycordially asked,"May I have this dance?"  
"I don't know,"Mom replied as Dad took her in his arms."Do you have a trust fund?Always make sure."she directed toward me.  
Dad began waltzing her around the room.They both started laughing,but soon they got into it and as the song played out,they did a really beautiful sequence of steps.Dean and I looked at each other,amazed.Miss Patty watched from the doorway,finishing up her cigarette.I think even Mom and Dad were a little surprised,and when they finished their dance we all clapped.  
"Okay,I'm adopted."I said.  
"Yeah,I'm never going to be able to do that."Dean agreed.  
"Nah,you guys just need some practice."Dad encouraged.  
"I'm gonna get a little air real quick."I said.  
"Okay,I'll come with-"Dean's cell phone rang."Or not."  
Dean went over to take his call,Mom and Dad went over to talk to Miss Patty.I stepped to the doorway.Just then,Jess walked up to me."Hi."  
"Hi."I replied.  
"Dancing?"  
"Trying to dance,failing miserably."I said.  
"Oh come on,you're not that bad."he said.  
"No,I am.I can't dance at all."I assured him.  
"Anyone can dance."he said.  
Well,that's what my dad says,but if you saw me dance,you would no longer think that."I told him.  
He thought for a second."Show me."he said.  
"Excuse me?"I wasn't sure I heard him right.  
"Let's dance,you can show me how terrible you are."  
"Not unless you have a really good life insurance policy."I said.  
He smirked,"I'll take my chances."  
"I might hurt you."I told him.  
"I live on the edge,and I've been hurt before."  
"Why?" I asked at his insistence.  
"Because,I want to show you that you CAN dance."  
"Okay,but I warned you."I gave him one last warning.  
"Overly noted.One way or another we will hear an 'I told you so'."he said.  
"Okay."He doesn't know how bad at this I am.Keep counting in your heads,look eachother in the eyes,he leads.This was the advice that Miss Patty had given Dean and me.Mom,Dad,Miss Patty,and Dean were all in the corner talking.Please don't be too disastrous.I've been trying this for an hour and no luck.Okay,he turned on the music and took me in his arms.Much to my surprise,he started leading me around the dance floor without even the slightest difficulty.We kept eye contact and all I had to do was follow him,because he was really very good.We waltzed around the room so involved, we didn't noticeMom,Dad,Miss Patty,and Dean were now watching.At the end he twirled me out,then pulled me back into his arms and dipped me.With him I didn't fall like I did when Dean tried to dip me.We still hadn't broken our intense eye contact until we finally realized that we weren't moving from our position and people were staring.  
"Wow,that was better than us."Dad said with a smile.  
He brought me back up out of the dip."You're very good."I said.  
"I'm still alive,guess I get to say the 'I told you so'"he said.  
I smiled."I danced."I said in amazement.  
"I know,I told you that you could."he said,glad that I was smiling.  
"You were right."Wow,I never would have thought he was the ballroom dancing type.  
"Well,I'll let you two get back to dancing."he said knowing he already left a big impression.It was evident on my face,Mom's face,and Dean's face.Dad didn't know who he was and the entire thing flew right ofer his head.  
"Oh,okay.Well, thanks for the dance."I said.  
"Sure."  
"See you 'round."I said as he went to leave.  
"Seems to turn out that way doesn't it."And with that he disappeared.  
Mom and Dean were staring at the doorway he just left through.  
My oblivious dad didn't notice."See,wasn't that hard,was it?"  
"I don't even know how I did that."I said still slightly dazed.  
Mom's thoughts came back to her."Never figured him to be the Fred Astaire type."she said still surprised.   
Once he regained his composure,Dean finally asked,"Who was that?"  
"Well,"I replied looking at the doorway,"That was Jess." 


	2. Torture and Coffee

Disclaimer:I own nothing,that unfortunately has not changed.I don't think it will in the future either,but if it does I promise you'll be   
the first to know:)I,however,would not hold my breath.  
  
Spoilers:Yeah right! I time warped back to season two.  
  
Summary:Rory thinks about Jess,and Lorelai brings up the dance.(Okay that summary sucked,sorry.)  
  
A/N:Thank you to Too Lazy to Sign In and markie for asking me to go on with this story!When I initially wrote it I had no intention   
to continue it,but you guys changed my mind.And I'm really glad because I like this chapter!  
  
To Jade:Thank you very much!! I'm glad that you like my writing!!  
To markie:I bet a lot of people forgot that,I almost did!Thank you!!  
To Too Lazy to Sign In:Thank you very much for reviewing my stories!! I kind of surprised myself with the ballroom dancing thing too!  
To any body who reviews this after I submit this chapter:Thank you for reading this,I love you all!  
  
Note:This picks up the same night of the dance lesson,after they order the chinese,and Lorelai paints Rory's toenails.I'm picking   
up with Loreali leaving her room.  
"Okay,sleep well,"Mom said."Tomorrow, you are a woman.Sunday, you start therapy.And a week from Tuesday, the binge drinking  
begins."she said solemnly.  
  
"Great.You know how I like a schedule."I smiled at her.  
  
"'Night."Mom turned the light out and went up to her bedroom.  
  
I stared at the ceiling willing myself to go to sleep.But I couldn't.All I could think of was that dance lesson.The dance.  
I tried to convince myself that it was just the dance that I was thinking of.But it wasn't.Of course I'm the queen of denialville, so  
don't even bother trying to tell me that.When I saw him walk up to me,I instantly relaxed.Don't ask me how,because if I knew  
maybe I could quit thinking about him.About the dance.Then I feel guilty.Dean.Remember him,the guy who's going to wear   
white gloves for you?But no,it's not him that I can't quit thinking about,it's someone else.Some other guy who led me around the dance floor,completely shocking me by the way,while never leaving my eyes.And poor Dean,he tried so hard, it took so long to  
do that.Like he didn't have about 100 other things that he would rather have done,but he went to a stupid dance lesson that he hated,for me.  
  
"Dean,are you leading?"I remembered Miss Patty asking him,as she tried to transform our Ringling Brothers act into dancing.  
  
"I have no idea,"he replied, frustrated.  
  
And I have the nerve to be thinking about another guy. After the hours of trying to learn to dance,after the tails,after Neil Young,and  
I'm thinking about Jess.The guy who unexpectantly popped in and made me feel like Cinderella dancing with the prince.Only   
he's not supposed to be the one in the Prince's place.Dean is.So, yes, morally I know that Dean should be the guy on my mind.  
If you think there has to be a but here,you're right.But,I'm not.I'm thinking about Jess.And Jess' eyes.There is just something about his eyes.I can't even begin to try to explain it.When I look into his eyes, I feel somehow comforted.Don't ask me how,it's a mystery.Especially since I barely know him.But I feel like I know him.This pretty much puzzles me.I don't know what it is about  
him, maybe it's the mystique, maybe it's not, but whatever it is it's making me really want to get to know him better.I'm not sure  
that Dean or my mom share the same liking Jess opinion.Dad didn't seem to mind him though,then again he's never really met  
Jess.What am I even talking about?It was JUST a dance!Yes it was a dance consisting of for one thing,magic,because I danced,  
I, Miss two left feet, danced.Yes, there was also really intense eye contact, and being in eachothers arms for a few minutes.But that's how you dance.There is nothing wrong with dancing with a guy that's not your boyfriend once.Now I maybe shouldn't have  
done right in front of my boyfriend,after he'd just spent an hour trying to do the exact same thing.But people dance with more than  
one person,it's not like I kissed the guy.So,if I did nothing wrong,then why do I feel guilty?It could be because when he held me in  
his arms, it felt so natural.And when he dipped me,I never even for one millisecond worried that he'd drop me(like I did everytime  
with Dean),not that I would've even noticed if he would have dropped me, because I was so busy staring into his eyes that I barely  
remembered my name,let alone if I was standing.And the very first night I met him when I looked into his eyes, I had to look twice  
because there was just something that made me very at ease,very myself.I didn't feel like I had to be perfect,I don't think he wants  
me to be perfect.Stop it! I'm being an idiot.It was just a dance,a couple minutes,no big deal.He probably hasn't thought about me   
once since,and here I am,staring at the ceiling,thinking about him.He probably won't even remember it tomorrow, and here it's   
completely invading my mind.I need to stop thinking about Jess,and his eyes.Those brown eyes,I felt like he could read me, like he  
reads Howl or Oliver Twist.And he probably can, just because I can hide from everyone else so easily doesn't mean I can hide from  
him,he's different. He's a mystery,and he can hide well,I can tell.Okay, that's not not thinking about Jess.I am going to sleep.Now.  
  
"Whoo hoo!Wake up,coffee, coffee.Your last morning not being a hoop skirt wearing society woman!"Mom says cheerily.  
  
"Go back to bed."I mumbled as I duried my head in my pillow.  
  
"No! Up, please."  
  
"You are a very mean person."I told her.  
  
"Oh good,'cause I was so tired of being nice.If you don't get up I'm going to start torturing you again."she warned me.  
  
"What do you have to hold over my head?I know I have stuff to hold over your head, such as-"  
  
"You danced with Jess!"  
  
I shot up out of bed.  
  
"Now that got results."she said.  
  
"It was just a dance."I defended.  
  
"Uh huh."  
  
"What?"I gave her the evil eye.  
  
"Wow, the evil eye."she smiled."You danced with Jess.You stayed in a dip for about 10 minutes, just staring into his eyes,you-"  
  
"Need coffee."I interrupted.  
  
"You were danced and romanced by-"  
  
"Stop."  
  
"And did you see Dean?Because let me tell you-"  
  
"At what point did you lose your hearing?"I asked trying to get her to stop.  
  
"I'm serious, you could have just knocked me over with a feather!"she continued.  
  
"I don't think I like you.Where's my daddy,I don't want my mean mommy."  
  
"What are you gonna do?Go complain to-"  
  
"I'm putting you up for adoption.Some people might like a mean, crazy, over-exaggerater,I am not one of those people."  
  
"Hey kiddo."Dad smiled.  
  
"Hi."I hugged him, relieved that Jess was a subject of the past.Or not.  
  
"I was just waking Ginger Rogers here up."Mom said, smiling.  
  
"Yeah, that was quite a dance."he said, not realizing this was a torture thing.  
  
"Not you too."I said.  
  
"What?"he asked, confused.  
  
"Dad's clueless."Mom informed me."He didn't realize that you and Jess had a Baby and Johnny thing going on."she teased.  
  
"A what?"Dad asked, clearly confused.  
  
"Dirty Dancing.Where have you been?"Mom answered.  
  
"You are warped."I told her.  
  
"It's true!"she protested."It's exactly true!17 years old,Baby's also 17 years old."  
  
"Oh brother."I rolled my eyes.  
  
"You, the naive picture of innocence, him the not so innocent experienced rather than naive guy that your parents don't approve of."  
  
"You need help.Lots and lots of help.I'm serious, they may have to bring Sigmund Frued back to life to help you."I said.  
  
"You think I'm that special?Aww, that's sweet."  
  
"I am going to get dressed now."I announced.  
  
"Bye Ginger!"she called in a high pitched voice.  
  
"What was that all about?"Dad asked.  
  
She can be so aggravating.Dirty Dancing, ha! It's hardly Dirty Dancing.Baby and Johnny my foot.When I was dressed,I walked back  
out into the livingroom."I am ready for coffee."I said.  
  
"Okay, let's go."Mom said as we walked to the door.  
  
I went to reach for the door to open it.  
  
"No!"Mom shouted.  
  
I jumped."What?"I ask alarmed.  
  
"A lady NEVER opens a door."se said.  
  
"Oh my gosh, you scared me half to death to mock me?"  
  
"What's wrong with you child?Were you raised in a barn?"she asked.  
  
"Close."I smiled,"A tool shed."  
  
"But a very classy tool shed."she said.  
  
"Agreed."  
  
"I mean, next thing you know, you'll be milking a cow in the kitchen, and square-dancing.Oh!"she said, pretending it was pure coincidence,"Speaking of dancing..."  
  
"Mom, we've been over this a million times."  
  
"What in the heck am I missing?"Dad asked.  
  
"Did you not see Fred and Ginger yesterday?"Mom asked.  
  
"Mom,come on."  
  
"That guy she danced with?"he questioned.  
  
"That's the one.And he finally gets it."Mom said.  
  
"Don't let her put ideas in your head."I said to him."And Mom,you need to stop."  
  
"Why?"she asked.  
  
"Because, Jess is probably at Luke's, and I'm not going to go in there with you if you're going to torture me,so good luck getting  
coffee."I said to her.  
  
"Oh fine."she pouted.  
  
Soon,we were at Luke's.We walked in.Luke was yelling about something,and Jess was looking slightly amused as he nodded.  
  
We sat at the counter."I'm serious Jess!"Luke complained as he stormed over to us."This is not funny!"Then he reached us.  
  
"Hey, I need coffee."Mom said.  
  
"No."Luke said.  
  
"Luke."She whined."I need coffee."she repeated.  
  
"And I need peace and quiet, good luck."and with that he stomped off to take an order.  
  
"What did you do this time?"I asked Jess as he walked over to our part of the counter.  
  
Luke could be heard behind us mumbling something about fire alarms.  
  
"Just another thing to drive Luke crazy."he replied.  
  
"Well at least your heart's in the right place."I said with a very small smile.  
  
Luke came back around the counter."Luke,coffee."Mom tried again.  
  
"No."he replied."He pulled the fire alarms."Luke told me.  
  
"At school."Jess specified, as Luke disappears into the kitchen.  
  
"You pulled the fire alarms?"I asked.  
  
"Yep."  
  
I stifled my smile,"That's not good."I said trying to keep a smile from coming.  
  
"Actually it was kind of funny."he said.  
  
"When I was in elementary school they used to tell us that if we pulled the fire alarms, that we'd get arrested."I told him.  
  
"Want me to let you in on a little secret?"  
  
"What's that?"I asked.  
  
"They lied."he said as he poured me a cup of coffee,smirked,and told Luke he was going out.  
  
Mom AND Dad were staring at me now with tiny smiles.  
  
"What?"I asked.I rolled my eyes after a moment of them just staring with these strange grins on their faces.I went back to my coffee."It was just a dance."I finally said.  
  
"Uh huh.Well I guess not all of us are lucky enough to get coffee."Mom pouted.  
  
"Well, if you wouldn't have tortured me all morning, I'd share mine."I smirked and took a sip of my coffee."Mmm."  
  
"Dean, we have a problem."Mom said to no one in particular.  
A/N:I'm counting on all of you to tell me if I should go on with this story, or if you hate it,or if you love it,or if you think that I should  
end it here,and I honestly will listen to you guys!! As an example,I continued this story because you wanted me to!! I love you  
all and value your opinions!! So please review and tell me what you think!!Thank you! 


	3. Asking Him

Disclaimer:I own nothing.Literally.  
  
A/N:Thank you to all of my viewers!I love you guys!Thank you so much for sharing your opinions with me.I hope you'll like this chapter,I had a few different ideas that I was toying with for what to do with this chapter,and I think I'm just going to start typing and see which one I do!Please r/r!  
We sat there for a few minutes and Mom still couldn't get coffee."Rory," she whined.  
  
"No."I answered.  
  
"Just one little sip?One sip can't hurt."  
  
"So, who's this Jess guy?"Dad asked.I thought this subject was over.  
  
"He's new in Stars Hollow."I replied,hoping I could get it dropped again.  
  
"Yeah, and he's quite the-"  
  
I cut Mom off,"You can have one sip."  
  
"I'll love you forever!"she grabbed my cup.She took a big long sip.Then her eyes got huge and she put   
the cup down as she stared at the door.  
  
"What?"I asked her.  
  
"Dean!"she called.  
  
"What about-"I turned and saw Dean now standing beside me,"Oh my gosh!"  
  
"Hey."he frowned.His arm was in a sling.  
  
"Please tell me that you are playing doctor with Clara."I said.  
  
"I wish I were."  
  
"Dress up?"I grimaced.  
  
"'Fraid not."  
  
"What happened?"Mom wanted to know.  
  
"I broke my arm."he said.  
  
"That would explain the sling."Mom said.  
  
"Your arm can't be broken.I need that arm!"I said.  
  
"I know.If I thought I could take it off and let you take it,I would,but I can't."  
  
"I need them both.And a person connected!"I starting to get frantic.  
  
"I'm so sorry."he apologized.  
  
"Oh no.Now what?"I asked no one in particular,this was open to anyone with an answer.  
  
"I don't know."Mom said."You can't go without your escort.It'd look a little strange walking arm in arm  
with yourself.Then there's the dancing."she pointed out.  
  
"Oh God,the dancing."I frowned."That took forever to learn,there's no way that I can find somebody   
and teach them to dance,which we would most likely have to because most people aren't born with the ballroom  
dancing DNA.I can't do that all before the ball!And who-?"I stopped myself.I think I'm getting an idea.  
  
"What?"Mom asked.  
  
"I have an idea."I said slowly,contemplating if it would work.  
  
"Which would involve...?"Mom shook her head slightly.  
  
"Well,I need a person,a guy,who can dance."  
  
"What about Jess?"Dad asked.  
  
Mom glared at him,Dean looked at me.  
  
"That was exactly my idea."I said.  
  
"On second thought,ya know,we could just take my arm out of the sling for a few minutes."Dean said.  
  
"Very funny."I said.  
  
"Any other idea.Really any other idea whatsoever."Dean said.  
  
"Don't have one."I said.  
  
"You have friends,any friends?Really any?Or friend's brothers?" he continued.  
  
"Yeah,or friend's second cousins.Or,uh,someone from school?People at Chilton might know how to  
dance."Mom joined in."As a matter of fact,I'm sure they would.Right Chris?"she said trying to get him too.  
  
"I thought she didn't really socialize with the Chilton kids."he said.  
  
"Bah humbug!If you're not on our side,don't speak."Mom said.  
  
"I was just answering you."he said.  
  
"What other choice do I have?"I asked,knowing I really didn't have one.  
  
Mom mock-banged her head on the counter."Think,think,think!"  
  
"Mom,there's no reason to get that dramatic."I said.  
  
"Want me to let you in on a little secret?"she reminded me.  
  
"Not here not now."I said.  
  
"What?"Dean asked lost.  
  
"Mom,I have to ask him."I said.  
  
"He's not the tails and white glove type.Hey!Ask Mickey Mouse!He's already got both!"Mom smiled.  
  
"Hilarious."I said flatly."But I somehow doubt he's going to come to life and go to a ball."  
  
"Darn it!"she frowned.  
  
"I'm asking."she still frowned."Don't do that."  
  
"Why not?"she pouted.  
  
"It uses too many muscles."I said,smiling.  
  
"I'm in the mood for a good workout."she quipped.  
  
"Isn't there any other option?"Dean asked.  
  
"Why are you so against this?"I asked him."I'm in a jam here."  
  
"I just didn't like him."he said.  
  
"You've never met him.How could you know that?"I asked.  
  
"I got a Hell of a first impression."he replied.  
  
"Yeah,first impressions are definitely not his strong suit."Mom added.  
  
"Look,I don't even know if he'll do this.But it's not like I have a lot of options here."I said.  
  
"How about Neil Young?Maybe he's available."Dean half joked.  
  
"Not likely."I said.  
  
"What if he says no?"Dean asked.  
  
"Which he most likely will."Mom added.  
  
"Then what?Who'll take you then?"Dean asked.  
  
"Well,how're you gonna know unless you ask?"Dad asked.  
  
"You.Not helping."Mom pointed.Luke was passing,"Ooh,coffee!"  
  
"No."he said again.  
  
"No fair,Jess gives Rory coffee."Mom pouted.  
  
"Yeah right."Luke said.  
  
"He did,and,he said you'd give me some."she lied.  
  
"Do I look stupid enough to believe that?"he said as he walked off.  
  
"Pleeease!?"she called.  
  
"Back to problem at hand."Dad said.  
  
"Baby needs a Johnny."Mom sighed.  
  
"What?"Dean asked.  
  
"Yeah I didn't get that the first time either."Dad said.  
  
Mom placed one hand on my shoulder,"Baby Houseman,needs Johnny castle."she pointed to him.  
  
"I thought Jess was Johnny Castle."Dad said referring to our previous Baby/Johnny conversation.  
  
"Well then who'm I?Penny Johnson?"Dean asked.  
  
"Okay,I think we should stop Dirty Dancing analogies."I said.  
  
"He's probably much too busy pulling fire alarms."Mom said.  
  
"People,the clock is ticking.I don't have a lot of time.I need to go find Jess."I said.  
  
"Find Jess?For what?"Luke asked.  
  
I opened my mouth to answer when Mom cut me off."For one cup of coffee,we'll tell you."  
  
He rolled his eyes,"You're getting pathetic."he said as he poured her a cup.  
  
She smiled wide,"Thank you."  
  
"Dean broke his arm.Do you have any idea where Jess might have went?"I asked.  
  
"Call Patrick Swayze,maybe he can come."Mom said.  
  
I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to Luke.  
  
"You're asking me?"he replied.  
  
"That would be a no."I said.  
  
"I never know where that kid goes."he said.  
  
"Well,any idea when he might be home?"I asked.  
  
"Any time between now and about three o' clock."he said.  
  
"This afternoon?"I guessed.  
  
"In the morning."Luke corrected.  
  
"Well,that won't do me any good.Next option,scouring the town."I said.  
  
"What could you possibly need Jess for?"he asked wiping the counter.  
  
"I need his help."I said.  
  
"Not to squish your hope or anything,but I'd say you'd probably have a better chance getting the   
abominable snowman to help.He never helps around here."Luke said.  
  
"He poured me coffee."I said.  
  
"You were serious about that?"he asked somewhat surprised."I didn't ask him to help this morning."  
  
Mom started humming 'I've had the Time of My Life'.  
  
"Stop."I said.  
  
"I'm missing something.I probably don't want to know."and he walked away.  
  
"Okay."I took my last sip of coffee."I've gotta go."I said.  
  
"Anyone?Please?Think!"Mom said.  
  
"Sure."I finally decided to get them to let me ask Jess.  
  
"What?You know of someone else?"Mom asked hopefully.  
  
"Yep.And he probably does know how to dance."I nodded.  
  
"My prayers have been answered."Mom looked to the ceiling.  
  
"Who?"Dean asked,also eager to get Jess out of this picture.  
  
I fought a smirk."Tristin."  
  
Dean's mouth fell slightly open.Mom stared in awe."No."Dean finally said.  
  
"Mean trick."Mom agreed.  
  
"Well then,"I shrugged."That leaves me with Jess."I said,smiling innocently.  
  
"Back to the Dean taking the sling off idea."Mom said.  
  
"I'm going to find Jess."I said stubbornly.  
  
"No need."I heard from behind me.  
  
I turned around."Hello."I said.  
  
"Hi."He looked at Dean but didn't say anything,then back to me."So,what were you looking for me for?"  
  
"I need to talk to you,if you have a minute."I said.  
  
"Sure.Wanna go upstairs?"he asked.  
  
Mom looked like she was about to object, so I hopped off the stool."Sure."I said.  
  
She frowned."Does my opinion mean nothing?"she muttered.  
  
I ignored her,and went to follow Jess upstairs.He pulled the curtain aside for me to go up first.  
  
"Thanks."I said as I walked through.  
  
I didn't see this but before stepping inside himself,he noticed and enjoyed the fact that Dean was   
glaring at him.Mom was glowering at him too.He smirked and gave a tiny wave to Dean,then came up.  
  
"So, what did you want to talk about?"he asked.  
  
"You're probably going to think I'm insane."I forewarned.  
  
"Duly noted."  
  
"Really really insane,you'll probably want to have me commited."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"I'm not exaggerating."  
  
He smirked,as we sat down on the couch."Okay,you're crazy,go on."  
  
"Actually, it's more a favor."I clarified,"A really big favor."  
  
"Has anyone ever told you you're a procrastinator?"  
  
"Actually no."  
  
"Okay,well what is the big favor?"he asked.  
  
"Well,I don't know if you noticed,but Dean's arm's broken."I started.  
  
"That sucks."he didn't sound very sincere.  
  
"Yes,well,I kind of needed the arms.Both of them,and now only one works."  
  
"Uh huh."  
  
"And I really really need someone else.Tonight."I said.  
  
"Someone else for...?"  
  
"This is where the insanity thing comes in."  
  
"Got the insane asylum on speed dial."  
  
"There's this thing,that I kind of promised to do for my grandma,"I started.  
  
"Build a house?"he teased.I smiled.  
  
"No,there's this...don't think Disney."  
  
"Okay,now I'm scared."  
  
"There's this ball."  
  
"You're kidding,right?"he said after a second.  
  
"No."  
  
"Back to building a house."he said.  
  
"I told you you'd think I was crazy."  
  
"Why-what exactly did you want me to do about it?"  
  
"Well,I need an escort,to walk with me,and one dance..."I sort of squinted,realizing that this was a lot  
to ask of a guy that I barely knew.I keep forgetting that last part,it seems like I know him well.  
  
He must be thinking I've lost my mind."A ball?Like Cinderella?"he fought a smile.  
  
"No,I said NOT to think Disney,I'm sure it's absolutely nothing like that."  
  
"Then think The Brothers Grimm. Either way,same ball."  
  
"Good point."I said,but then continued on my tirade."But I really need an escort,and Dean's obviously  
not going to be able to do that."  
  
"And he's okay with me being your escort?"he asked with a crooked smile.Cute!Stop it.  
  
"Okay is such a...generous term.But I really need help and it's tonight.I can't go without an escort."  
  
"Call an escort service."he smirked.  
  
"I'm serious."  
  
"You are crazy."  
  
"I know,but in all fairness I told you that."I pointed out.  
  
"I'm not exactly the ball type."he said.  
  
"I'm prepared to beg."I said.  
  
He almost smiled but,being him,he had to stifle it."Don't you have someone else you could ask?"  
  
"Yeah...but I don't want to ask him."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I just don't."  
  
"Is he the ball type?"  
  
"I don't know,despite the fact that he pretty much is,I just can't exactly see him as Prince Charming."  
  
"But you can see me as Prince Charming?"it was sort of a question and a statement.  
  
I blushed,didn't see that one coming.  
  
He just smirked at the fact that I blushed."Suppose I went completely insane,I'm talking certifiably,  
because if I were to agree to this,I would have to be crazy."  
  
"'Kay,supposing."  
  
"What exactly is this ball thing?"  
  
"Well,it's a debutante ball,and while yes it seems stupid,it means a lot to my grandma and she really wants me to do it and I already agreed,and now Dean can't be my escort and I need one by tonight and if you  
won't do it there's no doubt in my mind that she'll make me ask Tristin."I rambled.  
  
He raised his eyebrows,"That was the world's longest run-on sentence."  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"It's fine.Why me?"he asked.  
  
"Because,I like you better than Tristin,I need an escort or I'll have to try to convince people that   
my boyfriend is a ghost,and you know how to dance."  
  
"So,when you say ball,you mean like a tux and dress,and a few little friendly mice?"  
  
"Yes to the first two,I think we could leave the mice home."  
  
"I can't believe I'm even considering this."he shook his head.  
  
"There's just one thing you didn't list..."I said.  
  
"Which is...?"he asked.  
  
"Well,there are...gloves."I grimaced.  
  
"You're talking about on you,right?"  
  
"Me too."  
  
"Okay,no way."  
  
"Please?"  
  
"I am definitely not a glove person.I don't even wear gloves in the winter."  
  
"I'm begging!Pleeease?I will do something for you."I said.  
  
"Like...?"  
  
"I don't know.Work with me here.Um,the diner,aren't you supposed to work in the diner?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Well,I'll work at the diner,if you don't want to do your shifts,I'll do them for you."I offered.  
  
"Gloves."he sighed.  
  
"Gloves."I said just as fatefully.  
  
"And you'll help me in the diner sometimes?"  
  
Help?Cool,I meant I'd completely take over."Yes."I replied eagerly.  
  
He thought for a second."Okay."he finally said.  
  
"Really?"I jumped up excitedly.  
  
"Really."he stood up.  
  
"Thank you,thank you,thank you!"And on reflex or some strange thing in my brain,I hugged him.Yes,I   
hugged him.Oh no!Why did I do that?Oh well,too late now.He returned the hug.  
  
"Well,doesn't take much to make you happy,does it?"he teased with a smirk.  
  
I blushed again,I couldn't believe I had just done that."I cannot tell you how much I appreciate this."  
  
"I think I pretty much got the idea."he nodded,referring to the hug.  
  
How embarrassing,why couldn't I control myself?Oh yeah,it was just a dance.I mentally slapped myself.  
A/N:I think I'm going to end it here,if I keep going I won't be able to stop because I have so much in my brain   
right now.But my mom is bugging me about sharing the computer with her(mine!)so please review!! I'll try to  
update soon!!Thank you!Hope you liked it! 


	4. Me Too

Disclaimer:I own nothing! At some point in time I probably will own something,but I very much doubt that it will have anything to do with the Gilmore Girls. So I'll just stick to the disclaimer thing!  
  
A/N: Hey guys, sorry it took longer than I thought it would to update! I hope this chapter is as good as the other ones, there will finally be a little Rory/Jess action!! I know, took me long enough,huh? But here it is, I'm going to start with pre-ball stuff, and it will depend on how long it turns out to be if they go to the ball.If I take too much time on the before the ball stuff, I'll just push the ball to another chapter! No big deal, we'll see. ~And on with the show, or story, or whatever! Also, I'm not sure, but it's possible that Jess will fall a little OOC this chapter, but I don't want him to be too big of a jerk,considering he's going to have to meet at least one of Rory's grandparents, but just in case, wanted to warn you that it is possible.  
  
*  
  
We walked back downstairs to the diner.  
  
"I really cannot thank you enough for doing this." I said as we walked down the stairs.  
  
"Well, remember me this Christmas." he smirked.  
  
"I will." I nodded, even though he was teasing. He has got to quit smirking, he's too cute! He needs to stop, for the sake of my conscience.  
  
We walked in the diner.  
  
"Hey, Baby." Mom said.  
  
I gave her a warning glare. "Hi, Mom."  
  
"So?" Mom asked, expecting to hear we needed another plan.  
  
"We're set." I smiled.  
  
"What?" she asked in complete shock.  
  
"He said he'd do it." I clarifired.  
  
Mom just kind of went comatose. "Did you tell him about the gloves?" Dean asked.  
  
"Yep."  
  
"And he still agreed?" Mom asked. Do they realize he's standing right next to me?  
  
"Yes." I said, starting to get annoyed. This is a big favor, he will NOT be treated like crap.  
  
"Well, good." My dad said with a smile. I smiled at him. At least he's nice.  
  
Dean looked aggravated. Mom looked like she was in shock.  
  
"Why?" Mom finally asked.  
  
"I just had a hankering to wear the gloves." Jess replied sarcastically.  
  
"Translation?" Mom looked at me.  
  
"We made a deal." I responded.  
  
"A deal?" she asked.  
  
"An exchange of services." Jess specified.  
  
"Oh dear God." Mom murmured.  
  
"Scared?" he asked.  
  
"Terrified."  
  
"Anyway," I cut in."he agreed."  
  
"Yay." Dean said.  
  
"And this is a very BIG favor and extremely last minute, so we're GRATEFUL." I said pointedly.  
  
Jess smirked, Mom frowned,and Dad didn't have an opinionated face.  
  
"Well, good." Dad repeated.  
  
Mom's cell phone rang.Luke pointed to the sign, she ignored him and answered,"Hello?" she rolled her eyes,"Hi Mom."  
  
"You're not allowed to have that in here." Luke complained.  
  
She waved him off."Yes Mom.No....because....yes I do realize that."  
  
"Ah, you never listen to me anyway." he grumbled,"Jess, are you supposed to be working?"  
  
"Sorry. Can't."  
  
I was about to speak up and volunteer to make up for the shift another day, but Luke just walked away.  
  
"Ya sure? You'd probably rather work here than go to this thing tonight." Dean remarked.  
  
"Geeze people, it's not Fear Factor." Jess replied.  
  
"Yeah, but there's no fifty thousand dollar reward either." Dean said. What's he trying to do, talk him out of it?  
  
"No, but I get a really cute co-worker." Jess said.  
  
I smiled at him as I slightly blushed, before realizing that he said that to DEAN. "What?" Dean asked.  
  
Then I realized it. I looked at Dean, mute.  
  
"No!" Mom inturrupted everybody's train of thought.  
  
Everyone stared at her.  
  
"Because, I told you....No!...Why was there no mention of this before?" she was very unhappy.  
  
"What's going on?" Dad whispered.  
  
"Well...I don't care.She can skip that....I told you.No way!Mom, come on, even you-"then she realized she was practically yelling,"I'm just going to step outside."she said to us.  
  
We watched her walk out chattering wildly into her phone.  
  
"What was that all about?" I wondered.  
  
"Apparently something that your mom's not in favor of." Dad said.  
  
"Obviously." I agreed.  
  
"Now, what was that about a co-worker?" Dean asked Jess.  
  
Jess looked at me figuring I'd probably want to answer this one. "Uh," All eyes on me,"I'm going to help him at the diner a little bit." I explained.  
  
"Hmm, yippee." Dean said looking more than a little annoyed.  
  
"You don't like me very much, do you?" Jess asked him.  
  
"Oh, you noticed?" Dean replied.  
  
"Little bit obvious."  
  
"Well, I hope you're not too offended." he replied sarcastically.  
  
"Oh, I'm not. See, I don't really care for you either."  
  
"Gee, wonder why I'm not surprised." Dean replied.  
  
"Don't know. Maybe I'm predictable."  
  
"Wonder what Mom's problem is." I said trying to interrupt this.  
  
"She's pacing." Dad pointed out, but he was wearing a faint smile.  
  
"Fast." I added.  
  
A few minutes, and death glares from Dean to Jess, later, Mom slowly moped into Luke's.  
  
"What's up?" I asked her.  
  
"Your lovely grandmother left one tiny detail out."  
  
"Out of...?" I asked.  
  
"Telling us stuff." she said.  
  
"Kinda figured that, we were looking for a what did she leave out." Dad said.  
  
She looked at Dean, then me, then sighed."A fairly important detail."  
  
"That there's a funeral afterwards?" I asked, judging from her attitude.  
  
"I wish." she replied. "Did you know that all of the debs' escorts are their boyfriends?" she asked.  
  
"Not seeing why that's a problem." I said, ignoring a glare from Dean.  
  
"There's a...Dean close your ears." she grimaced.  
  
"Now what?" he asked.  
  
"There's a kiss." she blurted.  
  
Oh God! Please say I'm dreaming! Jess and me? Kiss? No it wouldn't be a bad dream...except for the fact that Dean's head is very close to popping off. That's bad.  
  
"You're kidding me?!" he asked.  
  
"I'm not." she shook her head.  
  
I tried to steal a glance at Jess, but he was looking at me, so he saw. We were both rather quiet.  
  
Dad looked between Jess and Dean.  
  
"Rory, come on." Dean said. Ah, knew this was gonna come back to me eventually.  
  
Everybody is looking at me. "What?" Okay, that had to sound dumb.  
  
"What do you mean what?" he snapped.  
  
"It was the only thing I could think to say." I replied truthfully, frowning at him.  
  
"Well, I need a little more than that." he said.  
  
"What do you want me to say?" Geeze!  
  
"Being your escort was one thing, but kissing you?"  
  
I had no idea what to say. "Well, we just found out about this too!" That's all I could come up with?  
  
"Oh, yeah, I'm sure he'll back out now." he rolled his eyes. I couldn't blame him for being mad.  
  
"Would somebody else say something?" I asked.  
  
Small silence. I looked at Dad, Mom, then Jess.  
  
"Sorry, I wouldn't be able to say anything helpful." he replied.  
  
Dean rolled his eyes. "I'm going to kill my mother for not telling you this." Mom said.  
  
"Hate to point this out," Dad started,"But even if she would have, it wouldn't have stopped Dean's arm from breaking." Dad said. He's right.  
  
"He has a point. Even if Grandma would have told us that, we'd be in pretty much the same place."  
  
"She's all 'there's no way around it',so I, for once, have nothing to say." Mom said. "Sorry."  
  
"What's wrong with you people?" Luke asked coming over to us.  
  
"I need coffee." Mom said.  
  
"Why? To kill your nervous system?" he asked.  
  
"Yes. Exactly." she replied.  
  
He rolled his eyes,"What'd someone kill your cat?" he poured her a cup.  
  
"We don't have a cat." I said. Not like he doesn't know that.  
  
"Now she has a voice." Mom pointed at me.  
  
"No." Dean replied,"We just found out that Jess has to kiss Rory."  
  
His jaw dropped."What?"  
  
"You don't wanna know, just pour and walk away." Mom said.  
  
"Probably the best idea, but now you've got my interest." he said.  
  
"Remember I said I needed to ask Jess for help?" I asked.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well, he agreed to help."I said.  
  
"Yeah, then my mother drops the whole kiss thing on our heads." Mom explained.  
  
"Okay, I don't understand." he said.  
  
"That's because we're leaving out a lot of information, but we're still trying to form words and make sentences that aren't going to end lives and relationships." Mom rambled.  
  
"Walking away now." he said.  
  
"That's what I thought, bye now." she nodded, and took a sip of coffee.  
  
"There has to be a way to get out of this." Dean said.  
  
"No, doesn't seem like there is." I said.  
  
"Could we talk about this outside?" he asked. Translation, away from Jess.  
  
"Sure." I said. "Be right back." I said to no one in particular.  
  
We walked outside. "How can you expect me to be okay with this?" he asked.  
  
"Look Dean, I didn't get a say in this either."  
  
"He cannot kiss you." he said.  
  
I stayed silent, I didn't know what to say.  
  
"Any comment here?" he asked angrily.  
  
"Dean, what could I possibly say to make this better?" I asked.  
  
"What about ' I don't want to kiss him'? Or maybe, 'This is all a huge joke, surprise'?"  
  
"It's not a joke. He didn't get a say in this, I didn't get a say in this, those are the rules. He agreed before he knew about this and I'm sure he's only continuing to be nice, or to get the help in the diner, he probably doesn't see how this is a big thing. It's one night, I mean it's like in a play, you don't get a say in the kiss. Besides, I'm sure it will be a really quick kiss, do you know how many people are going to be at this thing? A lot. It'll be like Dad walks me down the hall or stairs or whatever, then there's like a fan dance, which should be completely humiliating and pathetic. Then Jess ushers me over, we dance , probably a quick barely noticable kiss, I mean it's not like there's going to be making out, it's just a quick welcome to society and womanhood and whatever else. My grandparents will be thrilled, it'll be over, so I too will be thrilled, then we come home, and it's over and we never ever have to think about it again." I ranted.  
  
"Well, as great of an explanation as that was, I never in all your rambling heard you say you didn't want him to kiss you."  
  
Speak!Rory,speak!Say something, I told myself. Nothing?  
  
He shook his head.  
  
"Dean, are you serious?" I finally found my voice.  
  
"Just now, no, I was joking, of course I'm serious."  
  
"You seriously think I want him to kiss me?" All I have to say is I don't want him to kiss me, that's all.  
  
"Well, I don't see you denying it."  
  
Speak.I don't have to say it in French! He turned to walk away."Of course I don't." I blurted."You are my boyfriend Dean." I'm such a LIAR! Oh my gosh! I DO want Jess to kiss me!! What's wrong with me?!  
  
"You don't want him to kiss you? And you weren't smiling when he said you were cute?" Oh, he noticed that? Of course he noticed that. I closed my eyes."Go ahead, say I'm lying." he finished.  
  
"I...it was...uh," What am I doing?! I barely even know Jess and I'm about to screw up my relationship?  
  
"Talking's hard now?"  
  
"Dean, come on,why are you doing this?" Oh, nice, blame Dean.  
  
"Why am I doing this? ME? I'm the one doing this?"  
  
"No, I didn't mean that. I...he caught me off guard."  
  
"So, you really don't like Jess?" he asked. "You were just taken off guard, it was a compliment...of course you smiled. That right?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah."   
  
"Okay."  
  
I stared at the ground.  
  
"Are you ready to go back inside?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah."   
  
"Well, I guess I'll be going home. I'll see you there later though."  
  
"Oh, right. You'll be there."  
  
"Is that a problem?"  
  
"No. Why would that be a problem?" I asked.  
  
"I don't know, you just didn't seem very happy about it."  
  
"Of course it's not a problem."  
  
"So, I'll see you there?"  
  
"Yeah. Bye."  
  
"Bye," he kissed me, "I love you."  
  
"Me too. Bye."  
  
He turned to walk away.  
  
I DO love Dean. Right? This thing with Jess, it was just a compliment, everyone loves a compliment.  
  
"You going in?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, just clearing my head."  
  
He nodded and started to leave,"Me too." he said quietly. And with that he was gone.  
  
I sighed."Yeah, guess we do have a problem." I mumbled to myself and walked back in the door.  
  
"Hey," Mom greeted,"Everything okay?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Something's wrong?" she guessed.  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Think you can muster up a smile, if everything's okay." she said.  
  
"Everything's...fine." I said. But everything didn't feel fine.  
  
"Dean's not mad? You're good?"  
  
Yeah, I'm walking on air, can't you tell."Well, that's what was said." Of course I was lying through my teeth, but there's no need to say that.  
  
"Good, I'm glad." she gave a big smile.  
  
"Yeah," I stole a look at Jess, "Me too."  
  
*  
  
A/N: Okay, don't kill me!! Please put the virtual vegetables that you want to throw at me down! I was going to break them up! I swear I was! This just seemed like the more Rory thing to do, you know that's what she would have done!But I did put a little Jess/Dean interaction! The OOC-Grandparent-meeting-thing will be in the next chapter, I had more to write than I originally expected! But hey, on the bright side, she at least acknowledged that she DID want to kiss him! Please review!! Need to know what you think! I love you all!!! I hope you liked it! Push the button and throw me a line! 


	5. The Heart Doesn't Lie

Disclaimer:I own nothing! Except my gloomy sulky mood, but nobody wants that.  
  
A/N:I am so depressed right now. I missed the repeat of Presenting Lorelai Gilmore:(I wanted to see that soo bad! I didn't see it the first time and now I missed it this time too! I wanted to see Jess in flannel *pouts* not to mention see the real ball! Oh well, I'll recede my melancholy mood and start writing!! I didn't see the episode, but I do have the book, and I will have to use a couple ideas out of it, for one thing, I've obviously never been to a Debutante Ball! If they're OOC it's not my fault!!Okay, maybe it is, but as stated previously, I don't want Jess' meeting with the grandparents (which really IS coming this chapter) to go quite as chummy(ha!)as the meeting Lorelai! It won't be a big part, because I have to majorly play it down from what I want to do(it would be either way too nice or too painful and messy!)So, On with the show, or ball!!  
  
*  
  
We got through the preparations fairly painlessly. Of course Jess and I weren't quite jumping for joy, because this was annoying for both of us. Then I started thinking. Jess is going to have to meet my grandparents. When Dean met my granparents it was a disaster. And Dean was Dean, polite, nice, etcetera et cetera. This was Jess. While our meeting was not all that horrible, Mom told me check-back-when-you're-21 type horror stories about when SHE met Jess. And it's not hard to assume that he would be the same way meeting grandparents. And it's not like I can keep him from meeting them. This is not going to be fun. Grandpa gave me the 'this family has standards, blah blah blah, people you're around should live up to them' speech, and that was just Dean. Maybe I could keep him away. It wouldn't be very easy, but I don't even want to imagine the problems this could cause.  
My mother, however read my mind. While Jess was putting on his 'costume', now that we had come into the ballroom of the magnificent historical building that the ball was being held in, she addressed the Jess-meets-the-grandparents issue.  
  
"Hey, you should know that I told my mom that this guy isn't your boyfriend, just kind of a friend. So, she and Dad shouldn't have horrible flahbacks and other things that would make them start insulting him." she said.  
  
"Oh, good. I was just thinking about that." I said relieved.  
  
"I know." she raised her eyebrows and pointed to her head as if she did read my mind.  
  
I rolled my eyes. "Sure, then what am I thinking now?" I asked her.  
  
At first she wasn't sure how to answer, but then she spotted something. "That Jess looks good in that tux."  
  
"Wha-" I saw him. My jaw kind of dropped. He looks better than I was expecting him to look. "Oh my gosh." I mumbled to myself.  
  
"I was kidding." she informed me.  
  
"I know." My breathing started to get a little difficult. "I have to..." Get out of here! "get ready." I finished.  
  
I tried to make my getaway, but Mom held on to my arm so that I couldn't leave.  
  
Dad and Jess, both now dressed, came over to us. "Hi." Dad smiled.  
  
I just stood there feeling like an idiot.  
  
"Is it horrible?" Jess asked with a smirk, which made him somehow even cuter.  
  
"Uh, no." I shook my head trying to formulate some sort of response. "Not at all." I was hoping for something more than that, but less than 'I bet that's what God would look like in a tux'. "It's good, er, I mean it looks- I gotta go get, uh, ready." I stammered out and avoided Jess' eyes and weird looks from my mom and Dad.  
I darted up the stairs, my face probably closely resembling Snow White's poisonous apple. I was honestly afraid of what I would say if I stood there for another second, or if he would've asked another question, or picked up on my tongue tied condition, or realized why I was stuttering. The horrible possiblities were endless. Who knew that Jess would outdo Cinderella's prince? This wasn't supposed to be his thing, he was supposed to be out of place. And he wasn't supposed to make me speechless. What happened, I asked myself?  
  
'I'll tell ya what happened," my heart said. 'you just officially fell for him.'  
  
*** 'That's not possible. I have Dean. AND he'll be watching.' ***  
  
'Well, if you wouldn't have ignored me when I told you to break up with him earlier, that wouldn't be a problem, now would it?' my heart responded.  
  
'Don't listen to that.' my head said. 'You did the right thing by not breaking up with Dean. And you made the right choice by leaving Jess before you said something stupid.' it told me.  
  
'No, she didn't. Now she has Dean, and feelings for Jess. That's not the recipe for anything good.' my heart said.  
  
'She barely knows Jess, she's loved Dean for a year.' my head said.  
  
'Bull,' my heart protested. 'she doesn't feel that way for Dean anymore.'   
  
*** 'Hey, yes I do.' I protested.***  
  
'Ha ha!' my head gloated. My heart just got annoyed.  
  
I walked into the dressing room, it was filled with vanity tables, mirrors, dress racks, and it was full of other debutantes, they were getting ready.   
  
I approached some stern looking lady with a clipboard. "Name?" she asked.  
  
"Lorelai Gilmore." I said, holding my dress in one hand.  
  
"Hang your dress there," she pointed to a rack,"You'll have to take the nonlighted mirror."  
  
"Okay, thank you." I said, and took my dress to the rack. I sat at my vanity seat.  
  
"Hi," greeted a cheerful blonde next to me. "I'm Libby."  
  
"Hi, I'm Rory." I smiled.  
  
"Okay, so which one of these lipsticks should I wear?" she asked, holding two up.  
  
"Oh, well..." She's asking me for fashion advice? That's funny. "That's a hard choice." they looked identical.  
  
"I know. This is like the most important fashion decision of our lives." she said dramatically.  
  
"Oh, I thought that was your wedding day." I said lightheartedly.  
  
She stared at me.  
  
"But...I could be wrong. I guess."  
  
"This is way more important. This will determine our social status for the rest of our lives. Besides, four out of five debs marry their escorts." she said as if it were common knowledge.  
  
"Oh. They do?"  
  
"Yep. Midori Sour?" she offered me a flask.  
  
"Uh, no thanks."  
  
"Okay." she took a swig, "At my last coming out, I shared with this girl who could not handle her booze. She puked all over her white dress. And she couldn't very well go out there like that. So she had to leave, her parents were so embarrassed."  
  
"Your last coming out?" I asked.  
  
"Yeah, this is my fifth coming out."  
  
"Five?"   
  
"Yeah. My first one was horrible. My escort could NOT kiss." she said.  
  
"Oh, well, in that case, I understand." I kind of lied.  
  
"Yeah." she nodded solemnly. "So, is your escort a good kisser?"  
  
"Oh, um, I , well-" my statement was cut short by the stern lady.  
  
"Girls, you have one hour. You have to be ready, so get going."  
  
Some of them gasped as they all continued to do what they had been doing much faster.  
  
"We have to be ready in an hour." Libby looked dismayed.  
  
"Yeah, one hour."  
  
"Can you believe that's all the time we have left?"  
  
An hour's a long time. "I know, geeze, what do they think we are? Only an hour?"  
  
"I know." she agreed wholeheartedly. I almost felt sorry for her.  
  
I put on light make-up, and my hair was already done, so I had about 40 minutes of time to waste. I grabbed the book that I brought and started reading. Finally the stern lady came back in to round us up.  
  
"Okay girls, let's go." we all left our stuff and followed the stern lady.  
  
We went to where our escorts and fathers were. The escorts were just getting ready to leave but we kind of touched base with them first.   
  
"Hey, Cinderella." Jess teased me.  
  
I smiled, "Hi, Prince Charming." I teased back.  
  
Libby came over to us,"This is your escort?" she asked as she checked him out.  
  
He kind of gave me a strange look. I smiled at the face he made. "Yep."  
  
"You are so getting married." she giggled and walked off.  
  
"What did she just say?" he asked me.  
  
"Oh, she was...drunk." was all I could come up with.  
  
"Drunk?" he asked kind of amused at my uneasiness.  
  
"Uh huh. White dresses, tuxes, poor thing's confused." I lied.  
  
Just then my dad came over to us. "Hey."  
  
"Dad." Saved!   
  
Then the lady decided to round up the escorts. "See you in a couple minutes." he then turned back to face me, "I hope they remembered the rings." he pretended to look seriously worried. I giggled, glad that was no longer stressful. Then he smirked and followed the rest of the escorts.  
  
"What'd he say?" Dad asked.  
  
"Oh, nothing. Inside joke." I explained. "Let's go."  
  
Dad and I took our positions as the announcer asked everyone to take their seats so the presentation could begin. "You sure you don't want to slide down the banister?" Dad asked with a smile.  
  
"I'll bet they'd never forget me." I replied. "Please don't let me fall. Apparently this is going to determine my social status for the rest of my life, I don't want to be known as the girl who tripped and fell flat on her face."  
  
He smiled,"Right back at ya. I think I like the girl who slid down the banister better." he smiled and offered his arm. We were ready to go.   
  
A former Debutante went to the podium and started the evening with a speech about the importance and responsibilty we would recieve by coming out into society. Of course it took forever, and there were so many girls. I saw Mom and Dean. It was hard to see with the lights, but it looked like Grandma and Grandpa were there with them.  
  
I told Dad that I'd be right back, there was still a few minutes before they got to Gilmore. So, I went to where Mom, Dean, Grandma and Grandpa were.  
  
"Hey, hon," Mom smiled at me.  
  
"Hi, Mom. Hi Grandma, hi Grandpa." I greeted them.  
  
"Rory," Grandma smiled, "You look beautiful. Richard, doesn't she look beautiful?"  
  
"Yes, Emily, Rory looks beautiful." Grandpa nodded at my over excited grandmother.  
  
"Thank you." I said, "Hi, Dean."  
  
He stood up."Hello." we stepped off to the side, he kissed me.  
  
"What do you think?" I asked him.  
  
"I think..." he smiled at my dress, "you look like a cotton ball."  
  
I smiled. "Why thank you, Jeeves."  
  
"But a really cute cotton ball." he said. "So, fun?"  
  
"Oh, a blast." I said sarcastically. "You could barely breathe with all the perfume and hair products."  
  
"What could be more fun than that?"  
  
"Then, this girl Libby, said that this was her fifth coming out, and that four out of five debs-" I cut myself off, I'm talking to Dean, bad idea. I somehow didn't think, Oh they marry their escorts, would go over well.  
  
He slightly frowned, "Four out of five debs, what?"  
  
"Oh, um, four out of five debs, uh, have more than one coming out ball." I lied.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"So,"  
  
"So?" I half smiled.  
  
"How's your dad liking it?" he asked.  
  
"Well, it's fine, I mean he's not quite cartwheeling, but..." I trailed off, slightly confused.  
  
"Cool." he paused just a second before continuing. "How's Jess like it? Fitting in?" he asked sarcastically.  
  
Then my smile diminished as I got the reason he was making the small talk, "Actually, yeah."  
  
"He is?" he looked disbelieving.  
  
"Yeah. Who cares?" Drop it Dean.  
  
"Well, I'm just surprised, that's all."  
  
"It's not like it's a big deal." I said.  
  
"I know, I mean, he's JUST going to kiss you, right?"  
  
"Oh geeze." I said frustrated.  
  
"Hey, I can't help that it's annoying." he said.  
  
"Dean, it's a rule."  
  
"I know. But if I were you I'd be worried if my boyfriend DIDN'T dislike the idea of another guy kissing you."  
  
"Dean..."   
  
Apparently Mom sensed trouble, and came over to us. "Hey guys."  
  
"Hi." Dean replied as frustrated as I was.  
  
"So, how about that speech, it just got longer and longer..." she continued to ramble on and on about the ball and the speech, I pretended to listen, but was really having a battle of my head vs. my heart.  
  
~'This is perfect,' my heart spoke up. 'Break up with him.'  
  
~'How do you figure this is perfect?' my head asked annoyed, 'She's in a ballroom, and they're in an argument, so it would be a heat of the moment decision that wasn't properly thought through.' my head said.  
  
~'Oh quit being such a pest, it may not seem like the best location or time, but she needs to do it, may as well do it now, it'll be easier on you and him.' my heart told me.  
  
~'She does not need to do it. Of course Dean's anoyed, he's very right, you want him to dislike that idea.' my head told me.  
  
~'No, break up with him. We don't want to be in this relationship.'  
  
~'Who are you to make that decision?' my head challenged.  
  
~'Uh, her heart.' my heart said in that duh tone of voice.  
  
*** 'You want me to break up with him?' I asked ***  
  
~'Yes, you want that too, you'd know that if you ever stopped fighting me and listened.' my heart told me.  
  
~'Don't do it, don't do it!' my head screamed.  
  
~'Ignore that brainy idiot, do it.' my heart told me calmly.  
  
~'No' my head protested. 'Think of Dean. Stable, secure, guy who loves you, Dean'  
  
~'Psh, stable?' my heart mocked, 'No, you don't want that' it told me.  
  
~'Excuse me, who do you think you are telling her what she wants?' my head countered.  
  
~'I'm just right. She knows that. Deep down.' my heart condescended.  
  
~'You are so full of it' my head said. 'Why on Earth would she want to do something this stupid?'  
  
~'It's not stupid. Why wouldn't she?' my heart countered.  
  
~'Were you not listening? Secure, safe, Dean, he's been with her like forever.'  
  
~'Well, maybe she wants someone else for the remainder of forever, or a little while at least if the the whole forever thing scares a big 'I have to think everything through to the very end and ignore what my heart's telling me' fool like you.' my heart said to my head.  
  
~'No, and not someone she barely knows, that makes no sense whatsoever. She'll stay with Dean.'  
  
~'Why?' my heart asked.  
  
~'She knows how he feels about her. It's not a gamble.' my head said sensibly.  
  
~'If that isn't the biggest load I've ever heard. It doesn't have to make sense. This is not even any of your business. This is a matter of the heart, so let's listen to the heart. Oh wait...that's me. Not you. Me.'  
  
~'Well, it crosses over into my territory when she wants to do something STUPID.'my head said.  
  
~'What makes this stupid?' My heart asked agitated.  
  
~'I've been telling you for the past 10 minutes. If you were smart, you'd know that.'  
  
~'You're starting to annoy me. You think you know everything.' my heart complained.  
  
~'Almost.' My head gloated.  
  
~'Listen here fathead, you're the one that started this mismatched couple off. If she'd have listened to me in the first place, we wouldn't even be in this situation.' my head said,'Think of the hug.' my heart advised me.  
  
~'No, don't listen to that morally bankrupt clod.' my head insisted.'And how is this my fault?'  
  
~'I advised her well, not letting her say 'I love you' to what's his name.'  
  
~'That's funny, then why did she say it?And his name's Dean.' my head challenged.  
  
~'Because after a week of you telling her she should have said it, she listened.'  
  
~'So, you would have rathered she kept her mouth shut and lost him?'  
  
~'You know, for a brain, you can be air headed.' my heart said.  
  
**'Hey guys, could we get back to my problem?' I interrupted.**  
  
~'Right. Think of how wonderful Dean's been to you.' My head said.  
  
~'No, don't think of that. Think of how great Jess is when he's just around you.' my heart argued.  
  
~'Stop it. Jess is just a little bump in the road of your relationship with wonderful Dean.' my head told me.  
  
~'No, he's not a bump. He's Mount Everest, give it up.' my heart said.  
  
~'No, he's not. He's just a distraction. Dean's real.' my head disputed.  
  
~'He is not. Stop telling her that.' my heart demanded.  
  
~'Then what do YOU think he is, know-it-all?' my head challenged my heart.  
  
~'He's routine. You said it yourself. He's safe and secure, and, oh, what's the word...BORING!' my heart answered.  
  
~'Not true! Dean loves her. Jess doesn't.'  
  
~'And how do you know that? Having late night rendezvous with his heart?' my heart teased.  
  
~'You're so frustrating.' my head told my heart.  
  
~'I know.' It replied. 'Rory, listen to me, dump him.' My heart said.  
  
~'Oh yeah, dump him off like a bag of garbage. Does that sound right to you?' my head asked me. 'After all you've been through, just dump him. For someone else no less.'   
  
~'Stop scolding her. You're her head, if you want to do that, apply for her conscience.' my heart said to my brain.' Besides Rory, a lot of people grow apart. It happens all the time. You're leaving him hanging by keeping him in this one sided relationship. Is THAT fair?' my heart asked.  
  
~'Cough, hypocrite, cough.' my head taunted.  
  
~'Be quiet you big bag of brain cells.' my heart said.   
  
***'Guys, I'm getting impatient here.' I told them.***  
  
~'Listen to me, you seldom do but you know I'm right 9 out of 10 times.' my heart said.  
  
~'I'm warning you. You'll be sorry.' my head sang. 'Lonely, party of 1' it mocked me.  
  
~'Yeah, listen to the one that's mocking you.' my heart said sarcastically. 'Jess is so exciting-'  
  
~'Yawn.' my head interrupted.'Oh, sorry, continue with your pursuit of prurience.'  
  
~'Bug off. He's smart, he loves to read, he let you know that. He even did that in an exciting way. He's really got a softer side-'  
  
~'Ha!' my head interrupted.'Yeah right.'  
  
~'If he didn't he wouldn't be doing this stupid ball thing that I talked her into doing.' my heart spat back.  
  
~'Oh.' for once my head was struck speechless.  
  
~'See.' my heart said smugly. 'Now, where was I? Oh, remember the hug? Remember the rush you got?'  
  
~'Please, ride a roller coaster if you want a rush.' my head said, 'Not date a guy.'  
  
~'Okay, I hate to break out the big guns, so to speak, but Rory, you can't run away from this, even if you try.' my heart said confidently.  
  
***This caught me and my head off guard, leaving us both slightly stunned. 'Why not?' I dared to ask.***  
  
~'Think of the high you felt when you hugged him.' my heart started.  
  
~'Uh, yeah, high.' my desperate head started, 'Like drugs, that's good, huh?'  
  
~'Moron.' my heart responded to that lame statement, then continued, 'Or the way your heart, aka me, raced when you heard you were going to have to kiss him,' it smiled, 'Like just now.' my heart pointed out.'Think of the dance.' it continued. 'Think-'  
  
*** 'No! I don't want to.' I said trying to shake it off. 'I love Dean. I can't do this.' ***  
  
~'Yes yes yes!' hy head gloated, 'she listened to me.'  
  
~'Doesn't matter if you want to or not,' my heart smirked.  
  
*** 'Why not?' I asked my heart, 'I can control this.' I insisted.***  
  
~'See, I'm used to you ignoring me.' my heart said. 'You can't run from this.'  
  
~'Yes, she can.' my head piped up. 'It's over, as long as she doesn't think about it. She did it when she was arguing with Dean earlier. It's not that hard.'  
  
~'That's because she takes me for granted and always listens to you. But Jess wasn't there when she lied through her teeth. Plus, I've already set it up so that she'll have to think about it.' my heart said.  
  
~'How's that?' my head challenged.  
  
~'The minute he kisses her, you forgot about that, didn't you?'  
  
~'No.' my head lied.  
  
~'Well, it'll be extremely hard, maybe impossible, to deny it then. She won't be able to lie for much longer. You're going to regret not doing this now, Rory.'  
  
~'No, she won't.' my head said. 'There's nothing to deny. He's just a fling.' my head attempted.  
  
~'Yes, she will. He's not a fling. It's going to be more messy if you wait.' my heart warned me.  
  
~'No. You love Dean.' my head said to me.  
  
~'Oh, brainwashing, good, very nice tactic.' my heart said sarcastically.  
  
~'Do you want to hurt Dean?' my head ignored my heart.  
  
*** 'Of course not.' I said.***  
  
~'Duh. That's why you should listen to me.' my heart said.  
  
~'Oh yeah, breaking up with him would do what then, make him happy?' my head said.  
  
~'This relationship is over. The feeling's gone. Would you want someone to drag it out like this? What if it were him doing this to you?' my heart said.  
  
~'She's trying to play your emotions.' My head said quickly.  
  
*** 'I can't do that to him.' I said.***  
  
~'The heart doesn't lie.' was all my heart said before going back into it's silent status in it's hidden away corner.  
  
~~~It's funny how we feel so much, but cannot say a word, though we are screaming inside, we can't be heard. --I Will Remember You, Sarah McLachlan~~~   
  
"Okay, Mom, Dean, I'm gonna have to get back to Dad." I said when Mom finished talking.   
  
"Oh, okay, I'll go sit with your grandparents. Good luck." Mom smiled and went back to their table.  
  
"So," he looked back at me.  
  
~'Please listen to me!' my heart tried one last time.  
  
"Well, I have to get back, they've hit E, Gilmore's coming up soon." I said.  
  
"Yeah, good luck." he said.  
  
I smiled, "Thanks." I wanted to let him know we were okay. So I took a step forward and kissed him.  
  
~'See,' my head started, 'that's all you have to do with Jess, nothing mind blowing or Earth shattering like the mushy-gushy one was trying to make you think.' my head pointed out.  
  
"See you after." he smiled.  
  
"Yes, you will." I smiled and headed back to my dad.  
  
~'See, that was all you needed to do.' my head assured me. 'Good job'  
  
~'Yeah, good job screwing up royally.' my heart said.  
  
~'Would you butt out?' my head asked.  
  
~'Nope. Because whenever she kisses Jess, I want to be able to say I told you so.' my heart said.  
  
~'A kiss is a kiss. She's kissed Dean plenty of times, you act like it's this big event.'  
  
~'Of course her kisses with Dean are no big deal, there's nothing behind them.' my heart said. 'There's a reason Dolly Parton named that one song Love Is Like A Butterfly, when there's something more behind a kiss, it DOES feel like a butterfly, whereas with Dean it's more like...butter.'  
  
~'Oh, stop it.' my head said. 'That theory would make no sense, she loves Dean.' my head said.  
  
~'No, YOU love Dean. Or the idea of Dean, LOVE doesn't have to make sense. That's why YOU'RE not supposed to be the one that makes this decision, and I AM.' my heart said.  
  
"Hey, kiddo." Dad greeted. "I wasn't sure you were going to make it back in time."  
  
"Yeah, I just had to go see Mom, Dean and Grandma and Grandpa." I explained.  
  
"Oh, how they doing?"  
  
"Grandma's thrilled, Dean's not, Grandpa's bored, and Mom's playing peacekeeper." I informed.  
  
"Sounds about right." Dad smiled.  
  
The presenter announced, "Allison Fowler, daughter of George Adam Fowler and Katherine Marie Fowler." It really did sound just like in the Disney version of Cinderella, only a female voice instead of male. I smiled at the thought.  
  
Someone signaled for Dad and me to move forward.  
  
"Lorelai Gilmore, daughter of Christopher Hayden and Lorelai Victoria Gilmore," came the announcement.  
  
The spotlight hit Dad and me and we made our way down the staircase. The stairs went on forever, and I couldn't see Mom's table because of the spotlight. We finally got to the bottom and my dad kissed my hand. I did a little curtsy as Dad looked to Jess. Jess took his cue and came over to me, and my dad walked off. Jess took my hand, tucked it under his arm and escorted me over to my next destination. Then was the part that Mom and Dean were dreading, and I was very nervous about, you'd think I'd never kissed a guy before.   
  
Jess could see how nervous I was, so he decided to try to lighten the mood. "And I may now kiss the bride." he whispered.  
  
I smiled at him, it worked. Then, he leaned in and kissed me. And at first it would have probably looked like a prudish kiss. But then, our lips met. I literally felt tingles down my back and a little bit lightheaded, I was glad my dress was so poofy that it could hold me up if my legs gave out, and those butterflies my heart was telling me about, they were right there in my stomach. The kiss was over, no, this is where the kiss was supposed to end. But without even thinking, as he started to pull back, I pulled him back into the kiss, and kissed him again. He, of course, kissed me back, surprised, but he wasn't going to argue.   
  
~'What are you doing?!?' my head shouted.  
  
Then I realized it, and reluctantly let him end the extended kiss.  
  
~My heart laughed, 'Told you so.'  
  
The look of surprise on Jess' face, well, it was definitely there.'And I'm doing HER the favor? I think I like favors.', thought Jess. He smiled and I did my curtsy and off he went.   
  
"Wow," Allison, the girl next to me, commented, "You can tell you guys are in love."  
  
I blushed, what did I just do? I couldn't see Mom or Dean, but I could imagine how happy that display made them. Then was the Fan Dance.  
  
~'Ya know, you just listened to me, that's what you did! I made you do that. I'm so proud.' my heart gloated.  
  
~'Oh, zip it!' my head snapped.  
  
Once the horrible Fan Dance was over we did our formal dance. Not that it surprised me, but, it went very well. He's so good at dancing that even if you hate dancing, you love dancing with him. I saw a couple of the girls shoot me envious looks once we were done. Then finally the evening came to an end.  
We were all shuffling around, getting our stuff together. I stayed in my dress and just took my clothes with me. Dad and Jess were still in their tuxes too. When we finally got done, we went in search of Mom. I found Mom, Dean, Jess, and my grandparents.   
  
I walked over and stood next to Jess. "What are we doing?" I asked quietly, because my mom was talking to some guy.  
  
"Watching your mom and this guy flirt with eachother." Jess replied, "You've missed a great show."  
  
I smiled. "Oh, darn."  
  
Grandma was happy that Mom was showing interest in someone from 'her world'.  
  
"Actually, I'm a police officer." the tall guy resembling an older version of Dean, sort of bragged.  
  
"Oh, like on Cops." Mom said excitedly.  
  
He smiled, "Something like that."  
  
"Do you get to do like undercover work and stuff?" she asked smiling.  
  
"I'll bet he'd like to do some UNDER COVER work." Jess muttered suggestively.  
  
I stifled the laugh that I wanted to give as Mom looked somewhat warningly at me, I swatted him on the arm.  
  
"That was weak." he teased, whispering it in my ear.  
  
I had to smile, "I know." I whispered back. Dean was glaring at us both.  
  
Fortunately Grandma and Grandpa didn't notice that he had said it suggestively.  
  
"What was that?" Grandpa asked, "We can't hear you when you're mumbling." he said snidely.  
  
Jess was ready to tell him exactly what he said, egged on by Grandpa's obvious dislike for Jess. "I said-"  
  
I cut him off, "He was just commenting to me about the ball, Grandpa." I lied as I placed a hand on Jess' shoulder to stop him.  
  
Mom, at noticing that they didn't catch it, took this as her cue to continue in her flirting, not all that surprised by Jess. What's a girl to do? I knew he wasn't Dean.  
  
After a few minutes Mom brought the flirting to a close. Grandpa had pulled me aside.  
  
"What is it, Grandpa?" I asked.  
  
"I'm very proud of you. I just wanted to give you your present."  
  
"I get a present?" I asked with a smile.  
  
"Of course you get a present." he handed me an envelope.  
  
"Thank you, Grandpa." I smiled and hugged him. Then Dad found us, and Grandpa and I went back to our group.  
  
Jess had disappeared for a minute. Then came back, and came up behind me, "Can I borrow you for a minute?" he whispered.  
  
I smiled, "Sure, I think they can spare me."  
  
~'His breath felt good on your neck, didn't it?' my heart said knowingly.  
  
*** 'Behave yourself.' I said.***  
  
"What do you need to borrow me for?" I asked.  
  
"I wanted to give you something." he said.  
  
"What's that?"  
  
He handed me a little bag. "Your present."  
  
"I didn't know I got presents. You didn't have to do that, coming to this thing with me was more than enough."  
  
"It's nothing big, just something I picked up."  
  
"And how did you even find time?" I asked.  
  
"I just stopped at the bookstore."  
  
My eyes lit up. "The bookstore?"  
  
"Yep." he confirmed.  
  
"Well, since you already have it here and everything." I smiled and opened the bag. I pulled out a book.   
Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales, by Brothers Grimm, Wilhelm Carl Grimm, and Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm.   
It was a bonded leather new edition including a satin page-keeper and gold-edged pages. It had more than 200 tales, such as, The Sleeping Beauty, Rumpelstiltskin, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, Cinderella and others--plus many little-known tales such as The Juniper Tree, Clever Gretel, King Thrushbeard, and The Singing, Soaring Lark.  
My face lit up with excitement as I smiled as far as my face would let me. "This is great! It's perfect, actually." I looked up from my book to look at him.  
  
He smiled, a real smile, "So, you like it then?"  
  
"Like it? I love it! Thank you." Then I did it again. I hugged him. Right in the middle of the ballroom, who cares if my mother, boyfriend and grandparents are watching? Apparently not me.  
  
~'Stop hugging him. What is wrong with you?' my head asked.  
  
*** 'He gave me a book.' I said.***  
  
~'And you expect me to believe that's why you're hugging him?' my head said, insulted.  
  
*** 'It's more than just a book. It's special because it's kind of an inside joke thing.' ***  
  
~'Whatever.' my head was mad.'You better break this hug before your boyfriend breaks it for you.'  
  
I finally did break away. I need to stop being spontaneous. "Thank you."  
  
"Wow, two hugs in one day, I must be doing something right." he smirked. I blushed. Then before anymore Kodak moments could be shared, Mom, and Dean came to us, with Dad and my grandparents following closely behind.  
  
"Hey guys." Mom greeted, "Interrupting something?"  
  
~'Yes actually, go away. Check back in five minutes.' my heart said, not really expecting me to say that.  
  
"No." I said meekly.  
  
"Good." Mom said cheerily.  
  
"We just wanted to say good bye before we left." Grandma said.  
  
"Oh, okay." I hugged her, "Thank you."  
She smiled as I hugged Grandpa. "Thanks, Grandpa."  
  
Honestly, even though Grandpa gave me a nice sized check, I liked Jess' gift better, it was more personal.  
  
"Thanks for coming." I said to both of them.  
  
We said our good byes to them. Then they left, and we got ready to.  
  
"So, we're ready aren't we?" Mom asked.  
  
"I think so." I looked at Jess and Dad.  
  
"Yep, us too." Dad nodded.  
  
"Okay, well, I'll see you tomorrow." Dean said.  
  
"Okay." I nodded.  
  
Then he stepped forward to kiss me. Without meaning to, I pulled out of the kiss a little early, but it was barely noticable if you weren't me, but then I noticed Jess was smirking. Or Jess.  
  
"Time to go." Mom gave me a weird look. Or Mom.  
  
"Okay," Dad grinned. Or Dad. Okay, I think more people than I thought noticed the premature ending to our kiss.  
  
I held my book close as I waved at Dean. "Okay, time to go." Mom pulled on my arm.  
  
"Okay, Dad, Jess, we'll meet you guys back in town." I called behind me as Mom dragged me towards the door. "Where's the fire?" I asked as I got into the Jeep.  
  
"I'll take that for ya." she took my feather fan.  
  
"Thank you." I pulled my dress in and closed my door.  
  
She started swatting my arm with the fan.  
  
"Hey!" I protested as I held my arm up like a shield.  
  
"What" swat swat "was" swat "that?" swat swat.  
  
"A fan's attacking me, alongside my whacko mother!"  
  
"What was that?" she demanded, putting the fan in the seat.  
  
"What was what?"  
  
"You kissed Jess."  
  
"Really? I didn't notice that, was that why he leaned in and our lips met? Now I understand. Good, that was really confusing." I said, "Not to mention like an hour ago! Why are you grilling me NOW?"  
  
"Would you have rathered me flip out in front of your grandparents?"  
  
"No." I said shyly.  
  
"Well, that's why. What's that?" she pointed to the book that I'd been clutching.  
  
"Just a little gift." I said.  
  
"From...?" she asked as she started the car.  
  
"Jess."  
  
"Oh, my favorite person tonight. And how could I NOT like him, I mean, first he has to take your boyfriend's place in the ball thing. Then we find out he has to kiss you. Then you turn into a puddle of mindless goo when you see him in his tux, then you and Dean, your boyfriend," she reminded me, "get in a fight. Then you and Jess have to do the dreaded kiss, and when the kiss should be over and he starts to pull back, you pull him closer to you and continue the kiss! The pretend, just-like-a-play you-get no-say-in kiss turned into a long, very real looking kiss. Then when that episode is finally over, you come over, stand beside him, even tough you could have stood next to your boyfriend, then you two start whispering to eachother. Then he goes all Jess-like and crude right in front of your grandparents-"  
  
"Hey, he's not Dean." I said.  
  
"But that's not enough, then instead of being embarrassed by it, you look like it's taking everything you've got not to laugh at his crude Jess-like comment."  
  
"Hey, I can't help it. I've never seen someone do that in front of Grandma and Grandpa." I half smiled.  
  
She stifled the smile that threatened to spread on her face, because she was trying not to show that she thought someone acting like that in front of them was kind of funny. "Then," she continued. " you guys disappear, only to be found HUGGING. Then your REAL boyfriend goes to kiss you good night, and after about a half second you pull away. So what gives?"  
  
"Hey, I did whack him on the arm." I said.  
  
"Yeah, but do you realize how horrible it would have been if Richard and Emily Gilmore would have heard him?"  
  
"Yes. It would have been a show worthy of very high ticket prices. But he was just being him." I said.  
  
"Yes, but he was not supposed to do that. How hard would it have been to keep his mouth shut and just say it to himself silently?"  
  
"He was the one doing me the favor. I'm not going to scold him for one sarcastic comment. He didn't WANT to do this thing tonight. He didn't WANT to meet my grandparents at all. And no, Jess and my grandparents would most definitely not hit it off. Their personalities would clash, so bad. But he wore tails and gloves for me, he doesn't even wear gloves when it's snowing outside. Therefore, even if he would have imitated Howard Stern, he was off the hook. No, Dean would never have said anything like that, but Jess is most definitely NOT Dean. Maybe that's why YOU don't like him, but that's why I DO like him!" I blurted out before I could think.  
  
~'What did you just say?!' my head shouted.  
  
Oops. I wasn't supposed to say that last part. "I mean, because, h-he's not like anyone else that I know. I-I didn't mean just Dean." I tried to cover, "It's just, he's just him. And Dean and everyone who meets my grandparents, they alter their personality to try to please them. Jess wouldn't. And personally I liked that better." I tried not to smile. "No one stands up to them. Everyone backs down. And even if anyone else WOULD have made the comment Jess did, when Grandpa, so rudely might I add, asked what he said, they would have lied. Like I did."  
  
"To save Jess." she said.  
  
"Because I knew he was going to tell him exactly what he said."  
  
"It's just not fair. Dean tried to be so nice to your grandparents and Jess didn't, but you were more impressed with Jess."  
  
"I did not say I was impressed by Jess."  
  
"Yes, however unfortunately I don't have 'stupid' stamped on my forehead." she said. "If I didn't know any better..."  
  
"But you do, that's why the 'if I didn't comment' was placed before it." I said.  
  
"You know, that kiss looked real." she said.  
  
"Well, we weren't wearing candy lips, so I guess it kind of was." I said.  
  
~'Oh yeah, it was real all right.' my heart said.  
  
"Did it feel like it does when you kiss Dean?" she asked.  
  
How do I answer this question? "What?"  
  
"You know how when you kiss Dean you get the butterflies in your stomach and start feeling lightheaded?"  
  
"Geeze, what is with all of you people and butterflies? I mean, it's like an obsession. Butterflies do not have to be present when you kiss someone that you love." I rambled defensively.  
  
She just kind of stared blankly, "I wasn't talking about you being in love with Jess. I was trying to point out just that, that you're not."  
  
"What are you talking about?" I asked her.  
  
"Look, I know you really appreciated Jess doing this for you. It was nice. Really, even I have to admit that. So, I'm sure you did develop some sort of feelings for him, but I'm just trying to help you out a little here. You're right. You don't have to get light headed and feel butterflies in your stomach when you kiss someone you love."  
  
~'Ha!' said my head, 'See?'  
  
"But you can love a brother, you DO feel the butterflies and spaghetti legs when you're IN love."  
  
~'See?' my heart mocked my head.  
  
"No, you don't." I said.  
  
"Sweetie, that's the difference."  
  
"So, you're saying that if my legs don't try to buckle and butterflies don't take up residence in my stomach, then I'm not in love with that person?" I asked her.  
  
"Right. Maybe you and Jess have a bond, hard to believe, but hey, stranger things have happened. But you have to know the difference between love and in love. You're grateful to Jess, could have a couple of lovish feelings, but you're IN love with Dean. That's why you feel more when you kiss him."  
  
I decided to not respond to this at all. That cannot be true. Can it?   
  
~My heart just smirked again. 'I told you the heart doesn't lie.'  
  
The rest of the ride was fairly quiet, I was trying to ignore the entire convesation, and Mom thought I was sorting out my Jess is my friend, Dean is my boyfriend issues.  
  
When we got back into town, we met up with Jess and my dad. We saw them as they got out of the car. Just watching them you'd think they were friends.   
  
"Hi, guys." Mom greeted.  
  
"Hey." Dad greeted us.  
  
Mom and I walked side by side as Dad and Jess walked behind us.  
  
"So, what did you guys think?" Mom asked.  
  
"Where would I even begin?" Dad asked.  
  
"Well, I'm extremely proud that you guys kept straight faces the whole time, well, for almost the whole ceremony." she directed at Jess and Dad.  
  
"Give us a break." Jess said.  
  
"Yeah," Dad agreed, "That Fan Dance was just too much."  
  
"I may have nightmares." Jess added.  
  
I smiled, "Yeah, you guys should try to be the one actually doing it. That's real fun."  
  
"No, thanks. If it was that funny watching, I wouldn't even want to imagine what it would be like actually doing the dance." Dad said.  
  
"Plus, I don't think we'd look quite as good in the dress." Jess added.  
  
I laughed, "Nice mental image." I pictured Jess and Dad in white dresses doing the Fan Dance. "I'll never be able to forget that." I tried to stop laughing.  
  
"You're not allowed to hold that over my head." he told me.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because, this was a favor."  
  
"Oh, okay. Ruin my fun. But it's still a funny image."  
  
"So, overall, what's the consensus?" Mom asked.  
  
"The Fan Dance was absolutely rediculous and humiliating. And I'm never doing a curtsy again." I said.  
  
"Our daughter looks hilarious with a feather fan." Dad smiled.  
  
"Especially when I'm not being hit with it." I murmured to Mom.  
  
"Jess, what'd you think?" she asked.  
  
"I think...I am never wearing any sort of gloves ever again." he said.  
  
"Oh, come on. Even Holden Caulfield wears gloves." I said.  
  
"Well, he has mental problems then." he replied.  
  
"Mickey Mouse wears gloves all the time." I said.  
  
"My role model." he said sarcastically.  
  
"Of course. I always figured you had a Mickey Mouse fetish." I said teasingly.  
  
"Yep, I have a life sized poster on my bedroom door."  
  
"Bet you just love Disney World, huh?" I continued.  
  
"Yep, my Heaven." he said.  
  
"What about Minnie Mouse?" I asked with a smile.  
  
"Oh yeah, that's my kind of woman." he mocked.  
  
"Okay, this just got twisted." Mom interjected.  
  
"Little bit." I agreed with a smile. We got closer to Luke's.  
  
"Well, I'm gonna get home, I need to get out of this tux." Dad said.  
  
"Okay." I hugged him, "I'll see you at home." I said.  
  
"'Kay." Then he and Jess said their goodbyes, and again it looked like thay were good friends, as Mom and I both stared at them. Then Dad started back home.  
  
We walked into Luke's. Luke stopped in his tracks when he saw us. "Did I die and wake up in Disney Hell?"  
  
Mom smiled. "Yes, we are here to torture you." she said.  
  
"By reenacting Cinderella?" he asked looking at my dress.  
  
"Darn it! I forgot to leave my glass slipper." I said looking at my feet.  
  
"Good thing you brought the prince with you then." Mom said.  
  
"Yep," Jess playfully put his arm around my waist. "We'll be needing some alone time if you don't mind."  
  
I blushed, "He's in a very suggestive mood tonight, isn't he?" Mom asked.  
  
He looked at me, "You've done another fairy tale thing," he gently brushed my cheek.  
  
~'Whoa! Is he trying to make me race out of your chest?' My heart asked me.  
  
"You're cheeks are as red as Snow White's lips." he finished. Lips.  
  
Then I blushed even more, "Yeah, well, I have a problem with the whole face as white as snow thing." I said.  
  
"We need to seperate these two." Mom said.  
  
"Well, I need to get out of this." Jess pointed to his tux.  
  
"She's staying with me." Mom said placing a hand on each of my shoulders. Jess smirked.  
  
"You're wearing a tux?" Luke asked with a small smile.  
  
"Yes, and you're not allowed to mock or tease him." I announced.  
  
"Why not?" he asked.  
  
"'Cause it was a big favor." I said.  
  
"Yes, it was." Jess nodded.  
  
"A Paul Bunyan sized favor." I said.  
  
"Sweetie, you have a slight hang up on tall tales and fairy tales." Mom said.  
  
"It's the ball. What can I say?" I shrugged.  
  
"If you don't stop I'm going to go Snow White evil queen on you."  
  
"You want to poison me?" I asked in mock insult.  
  
"Maybe." she wiggled her eyebrows.  
  
"I feel so loved." I playfully rolled my eyes.  
  
"Beware of apples." she said.  
  
"You know, if you go and try to kill her I'm gonna have to kiss her again." Jess said.  
  
"You will live forever my dear child." Mom said to me.  
  
"Aww, my prince saved me again." I wrapped my arms around Jess' neck and smiled.  
  
"Backfire!" Mom said.  
  
~'Back away from the Jess,' my head said, as cop lights and sirens started flashing in my head.  
  
~'Yeah, for once I'm gonna have to agree with bobble brain here, unless of course you want to kiss him in front of your Mom and Luke.' my heart said.  
  
*** 'Nuff said.' ***  
  
I slowly decided to listen to my head and my heart. I let go and backed up a bit. "So...no mocking him allowed." I said once I recovered.  
  
"Yeah, okay." Luke agreed kind of quickly. Even Luke noticed that was a moment. This is getting harder.  
  
~'I told you that too.' my heart pointed out.  
  
~'Yeah yeah yeah, the heart doesn't lie, we know.' my head said annoyed.  
  
"So, we better get home." Mom said.  
  
"Okay." I turned back to Jess. "Thanks again for going with me, and thanks for the book." I said.  
  
"You're welcome, but you're going to be working in this diner with me for the rest of your life." he smirked.  
  
"Not a very big price to pay, you were forced to witness the Fan Dance." I said.  
  
"I may never fully recover." he agreed.  
  
"I know I won't." I said instantly.  
  
~'Whoa! Can you say double meaning?' my heart responded to my reply.  
  
"So, see you tomorrow." I said.  
  
"Bye." And with that we left.  
  
"So, your Dad and Jess seemed to not hate eachother." she chose to ignore the diner episode.  
  
"I know, I don't think Jess says good bye to ME that nicely. I'm starting to feel left out."  
  
After a few seconds of silence,"Okay, I can't hold it back any longer," she cracked, "Were you guys flirting back there, or were me and the guy at the ball just being prudish?"  
  
"We were not flirting." I said.   
  
She stared at me."Then what do you call it?"  
  
"We were...playing." I said.  
  
"Well, we've come a long way since playing house, now haven't we?" she said.  
  
I didn't respond, for several reasons. One, I was hypersensitive about the Jess subject and she was pushing me to, and possibly past, my limit. Two, I was afraid of the Jess subject. Three, I'm confused with the Jess subject. And four, the butterflies were there with the wrong guy. We just walked in silence most of the way home. Each absorbed in our own thoughts. She stopped me at the bottom of the porch steps.  
  
"I do not want to fight with you." she said.  
  
"I know. I don't want to fight with you either."   
  
"Especially not over Jess." she said.  
  
"Me niether." I agreed.  
  
"Especially since you're going to have to do this tomorrow with Dean."  
  
"What? We were perfectly friendly in our good byes. We're fine."  
  
"That's because I kind of advised Dean to not..."  
  
"To not what?" I asked, my temper rising a couple of degrees.  
  
"To not give Jess the advantage of fighting with you over him right in front of him."  
  
"Mom," I protested. "Why?"  
  
"He was very unhappy, but there was Jess, and your dad and your grandparents, and I didn't figure you'd want to do that in front of them."  
  
"Why didn't you tell me that he was mad at me? I could have done something."  
  
"Like take Jess' head off? 'Cause that's about the only thing that would made him feel better."  
  
"I could have said something." I started stressing out.  
  
"Honey,"  
  
"Why didn't you tell me before he left?"   
  
"In between what? Jess' comment and you hugging him?" she made a point.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"And besides, there's nothing you really could have done tonight, except stress out like this."  
  
"He's mad at me?"  
  
"Well.." she stalled.  
  
"For what?" I asked before being bombarded by answers.  
  
~'Uh, kissing Jess, you moron.' my head said.  
  
~'Falling for Jess.' my heart told me.  
  
~'For all the crap you've been doing all day!' my head said.  
  
~'Okay, don't be mean.' my heart said to my head,  
  
~'For hugging Jess. Twice. For kissing Jess! For flirting with Jess!'  
  
*** 'Duh moment, don't insult me.' I defended.***  
  
"For what?" my mom repeated in almost astonishment.  
  
"Right. Dumb question." I realized.  
  
The door opened, Dad was standing there with a smile. "Staying out here plotting against me?"  
  
We put on smiles, and went in the house.  
  
"So'd you guys stop for coffee or something?" he asked.  
  
"No, we just took Jess home," Flirted with him, then denied doing it, "and came back." I said.  
  
"Oh. I like him." Dad nodded.  
  
"You like Jess?" Mom scolded more than asked.  
  
"Yep. Why is that bad?"  
  
"Well, if you hadn't noticed, Mom and Dean think Jess is a swearword." I said.  
  
"Ah. Well, I don't see why- scratch that, I don't see why your MOM doesn't like him." he corrected.  
  
"She doesn't care for his personality." I said.  
  
"Ooh," Mom shuddered. "Don't say that. It makes me sound like what you said about my parents and Jess, and that's just too spooky for me. I can't stomach that, give me The Exorcist, but don't even think about saying I have something in common with my parents."  
  
"Oh, yeah, from what I hear he and Richard aren't exactly planning on having Brandy and cigars together anytime soon." Dad said.  
  
"From what you've heard?" Mom asked as we both looked at him questioningly, "How have you heard anything?"  
  
"Well, just from what Jess said." he said.  
  
"Jess TALKED to you?" she asked as if he just said he went to Mars.  
  
"Yeah, talk, you know. When you open your mouth, and words usually come out." he said.  
  
"But you're not Rory." Mom said.  
  
"Thank you for noticing." he said looking at her strangely.  
  
"You mean he grunted a couple times, right?" she asked.  
  
"No, I mean putting words together, and forming sentences."  
  
"Jess talked to you?" I asked pleasantly surprised.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"You mean he got smart with you, insulted you, maybe yelled at you, right?" Mom was still puzzled.  
  
Dad just stared at this crazy woman they call my mother.  
  
"What did he say?" I asked interested, and ignoring Mom.  
  
"A lot of stuff. He told me he had kind of a little run-in with Richard." he said.  
  
"Did he tell you what he said?" Mom asked expecting that if he did he'd have the same reaction she did.  
  
He smiled a little, "Yeah."   
  
"And yet you are smiling?" she asked appalled.  
  
"It sounds exactly like something I would've said." he said. "I mean not in front of Richard and Emily, but under normal circumstances."  
  
I smiled at Dad. "That's what I tried to tell her. Well, not that. But how Jess just acts like himself in front of them, not restraining himself, whereas other people do." I said to him.  
  
"Exactly." Dad agreed with a smile.  
  
"I'm having an out-of-body expierience." Mom said. "You are a parent, you cannot like Jess." she said to my dad.  
  
"Yes, he can." I defended.  
  
"Your opinion doesn't count in this matter." she said.  
  
"Why?" I asked.  
  
"Because, you are not your parent." she said.  
  
"Why don't you like him?" Dad asked Mom.  
  
"Why do you?"  
  
"I just do. Have you ever talked to him?" he asked her.  
  
"Not for long." she said.  
  
"Then how do you know you don't like him?"  
  
"Several reasons, one, our brief conversation was enough Jess to last me two lifetimes. Two, he's sarcastic and rude, three, he steals stuff and he pulls fire alarms. Four, he's like you. And four wouldn't be a problem if it weren't for five, he likes my daughter!"  
  
We both watched her. "Is your head going to start rotating, or are you done now?" he asked.  
  
"I'm done. Response, please."  
  
"Okay, yes he's sarcastic, but so are you and so is Rory and so am I." he said. "And my sense of humor, which is very close in nature to his, doesn't bother you. He pulls pranks, he's a teenager, do you know how many teenagers do that? Most kids aren't like Rory. And four and five, I'm not blind, so yeah, I noticed those."  
  
I have the coolest Dad in the universe.  
  
Mom just stood there, she didn't know how to respond, he was right. "But...but..."  
  
"But what?" he asked.  
  
"But Rory likes him!" she exploded with her biggest problem of all.  
  
"I do not!" I protested. "Okay, I do, but not in the way you mean, I...I...have...Dean." I managed, "I like Jess,"  
  
~'Acceptance' my heart smiled  
  
"as, as a friend." I finished.  
  
~'Or not.' hy heart frowned.  
  
"I know you love Dean, but Jess is distracting you." she said.  
  
"If you say he's a bump I'm renaming you." I said.  
  
"What?" she asked confused.  
  
"Never mind."  
  
"You were so flirting with him tonight." she said.  
  
"I was not!" I denied it.  
  
"And he was flirting with you." she said.  
  
"He was not!" I denied that too.  
  
~'How's denial this time of year?' my heart asked.  
  
"You stay out of this!" I accidentally said out loud.  
  
"Who?" Mom asked.  
  
"Huh? Oh, no one. Never mind." I said."Okay, you don't like Jess. Big deal, I'm over it and I don't think he's too crushed. So, it's no big deal. Oh well." I decided to stop while I was ahead.  
  
"You don't mind?" she asked.  
  
"No, why would I mind?"  
  
~'Oh boy, here we go again.' my heart said.  
  
"I mean, what's it to me if you don't like him? You don't have to share my opinion of him."  
  
~'God, I hope not, that would be a crime.' my heart said.  
  
~'Stay out of it.' my head said. 'Go Rory, go on. Keep going.'  
  
~'If she says ruff ruff, I'm going to puke.' my heart says.  
  
"I mean, he's just a friend of mine. If you don't like him, well, it's not like you were always going to like everyone I knew."  
  
~'Denial rears it's ugly head again.' my heart said.  
  
~'Keep talking.' my head said.  
  
"So, why don't we just stop debating whether you should like him or not, because why bother? If you don't like him you don't like him." I shrugged for emphasis."Right?"  
  
~'People pleaser.' my heart muttered.  
  
A smile slowly spread across Mom's face as she had to have been thinking, 'welcome back, my perfect little girl, I've missed you tonight'. Dad just looked at me a little strangely.  
  
"Right." she said. "Right?" she looked to Dad.  
  
"I think our daughter has multiple personalities, but sure." he said.  
  
"We're all agreed. Everybody can feel however they want about Jess, what's it to me?" I said.  
  
~'Good girl.' my head said pleased.  
  
~'You want a bone?' my heart mocked me before going back into silence.  
  
"Exactly." Mom agreed happily.  
  
~'See, now Mom's happy. Perfect logic.' my head said smugly.  
  
~'You want logic? A minute ago he was the coolest Dad on Earth because he liked Jess, and now she couldn't give a hoot what anyone thinks of Jess. Does that make sense? How's that logical? Chew on that.' my heart said.  
  
"I'm pretty tired, I think I'm gonna go to bed." I said.  
  
"Okay," Mom replied.  
  
~'Don't hurt your halo and wings.' my heart mocked me again.  
  
*** 'Knock it off.' I said.***  
  
~'Whatever.' my heart said annoyed.  
  
"See you in the morning for coffee before I leave." Dad said.  
  
"'Kay." I hugged him. "Good night."  
  
"'Night hon." Mom said.  
  
"'Night." I went to my room and got out of my dress and into comfy pajamas.  
  
~'You won't be able to deny this forever.' my heart warned.  
  
~'Yes she will.' my head said, 'No, she won't, because she has nothing to deny.'  
  
~'You're not the heart.' my heart said.  
  
~'Well, who's she listening to?' my head responded.  
  
~'The logical liar.' my heart said. Then smirked,'But Ror, Don't drop your book.'  
  
I looked down and saw the book, Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales resting in my arms. "Wow, two hugs in one day, I must be doing something right." his voice played in my head. I smiled to myself and drifted off to sleep.  
  
*  
HERE'S MY HEART   
Our two worlds met in strange surprise   
I hid my love in thin disguise   
I tried to leave, how could I stay?   
What if my heart gave me away?   
I always thought I'd be prepared   
But love just caught me unaware   
You said the words and I believed   
I fell so hard, I fell so deep   
  
Love can't hide, though it tries   
Hearts catch fire, so has mine   
Here's My Heart   
  
So true love triumphs once again   
It always makes it in the end   
And if you let the heart run free   
It will return faithfully   
  
Love can't hide, though it tries   
Hearts catch fire, all the time   
Helpless love walks the line   
Hearts catch fire, the hour is fine   
Here's My Heart   
Ooh, Ooh   
Love can't hide, though it tries   
Hearts catch fire, all the time   
Helpless love walks the line   
Hearts catch fire, so has mine   
  
Here's My Heart   
Here's My Heart   
Here's My Heart   
Here's My Heart   
  
Ooh... Hey, Hey, Hey   
  
From the soundtrack "Metropolis" (1984)   
Written by: Giorgio Moroder & Pete Bellotte  
  
**  
  
A/N:Sorry it took longer than I expected to update, but I came up with all these other story ideas and my head just was not in the 'dancing' mood! Then I expected to get it finished earlier today but I went on internet(big mistake) to read my reviews and I got side tracked on reading a couple of stories, at that point I was almost done with this chapter, so when I finished r/r-ing those stories I had to completely reread my whole story!So, it's been quite a journey to get this done!! Hope you liked it!I noticed this story is lacking Lane, so I think I'm gonna put her in the next chapter.Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!! 


	6. A Promise Is a Promise

Disclaimer: I don't own them, and although I'm ticked off at ASP for getting rid of Jess, I now have a new respect for her for having to write as many episodes as she does, and all in good time. Phew, big run-on sentence.  
  
A/N: Okay, I'm begging for you guys to forgive me! I know I have been sucking as an updater, this is true, however if you'll just bear with me, I promise it will get better. It's already getting better, it'll just take me a little bit of time to catch up and update everything! But the good news is, by the end of July I WILL finish Whatever You Say, so that's one less story I'll have to worry about updating!  
  
But I had this story almost ready, just the ending left to type, and of course that was when the power chose to go out on me, so I lost it, because I'm stupid and I hadn't saved it yet, soo, I had to rewrite the whole chapter, and I figured since you waited so long, I wanted to try to make it as perfect as I could.  
  
Okay, thank you so much to all my reviewers!! You were all so great! Also,  
  
upon reading the posted story I realized how much of that head/heart  
  
conversation I put in there! Wow, I assure you it was never supposed to be that  
  
long! If I use the head/heart thing again, I'll make it much much shorter than that! I didn't even mean to make the chapter that long, when I saw it was over 9,000 words I almost passed out!   
  
~laura mariano:Sorry about the second hand thing, with Chris and Jess I really  
  
just wanted them to like each other, but I wasn't sure of what they would talk  
  
about, it's not like they could talk like just normal guy friends because both  
  
guys knew Jess liked Rory. What do you talk to the guy who is just like you, but  
  
also happens to be falling for your daughter, about? I wasn't sure. Yes, the  
  
debates were too long(but I already said that,so now I'm repeating myself) I  
  
wanted to keep the Jess/Richard thing kinda short, because somehow I would've  
  
went over the top(I have that much faith in myself:) and I didn't think of the  
  
whole 'it doesn't matter what he says it's a huge favor' thing until the very  
  
end of the story, and by then I had already written so much that I didn't want  
  
to go back and rewrite it adding many more sarcastic and rude not to mention  
  
eventful moments. And I figured it was pretty much assumed that Dean would  
  
resemble a cartoon upon seeing Jess and Rory's extended kiss. Thanks, I really  
  
enjoyed your review!:)  
  
~Alece: Don't worry, my evil plan is to torture Dean;) I'm so not nice, but I  
  
wanted her to still be taken in this little situation that way Rory would be  
  
spending all this time with Jess, and Dean would be getting madder and madder,  
  
and his hate for Jess could grow and grow, and maybe by the time Rory's ready to  
  
surrender to her feelings for Jess, Dean will have a spontaneous combustion!  
  
Wow, I'm really not liking Dean today. Thanks for reviewing! And I really REALLY  
  
thank you for pointing out that it's a fanfic so she doesn't have to be so in  
  
character because it's amazingly hard to get people to feel that way!! So again,  
  
thank you!  
  
LitJunkie  
  
Samantha: You're so cool! Just wanted to tell you that, and I'm glad you found that visual as funny as I did, because I could barely type it, lol, Jess and Chris doing the fan dance!! And yeah, I usually don't like Chris either, but any friend of Jess is a friend of mine! :) And I like the idea of some parental unit liking Jess (although MY own dad hates him (and he's not even realt!), so Chris was probably a strange person for me to have like him...) But I'm me!  
  
Also: there are a lot of people that pointed out how lengthy the head/heart  
  
conversation was, read the laura mariano note. Sorry about that!  
  
And sorry in advance to Angel Monroe, I feel bad taking an eternity to update, THEN when I finally do, you're out of town! Sorry!  
  
Wow, that was the longest a/n ever, anyway, Thanks to my reviewers, I love you ALL, all all, all! And I swear, if this a/n didn't already take about 10 pages up, I would name each and every one of you wonderful people!!! Hey! Something to look for in the next chap!  
  
***  
  
I was working at the diner, as promised, when I saw Dean came in. He looked at me and went to a table.  
  
"Hey, Jess..." I trailed off.  
  
Jess glanced at Dean, "Sure, I suppose you could take a break." he said with a smirk.  
  
I smirked, "Gee, thanks, boss." I put down my notepad and walked over to Dean. "Hi,"  
  
"Hey," he replied.  
  
"Can I sit?" I asked cautiously.  
  
"Of course."  
  
I sat down, "So..."  
  
"How was the dance?"  
  
"It was okay." I said. "I mean, my feet hurt from the heels and I'm never going to fan dance again, but, I guess it wasn't that bad." I said.  
  
"Really? Because you seemed to really enjoy it." he said, annoyed.  
  
"Dean-"  
  
"I mean, the dance, the KISS, you really didn't seem to mind." he said. "In fact, you seemed to enjoy it, possibly MORE than Jess did!"  
  
"Dean, I didn't- you knew it was a rule. You knew I had to kiss Jess, it wasn't like it was optional." I played innocent.  
  
"No, you're right, the quick kiss was optional, but see, I'm thinking that when he went to pull away from you and you pulled him BACK in to kiss you again, I'm thinking that was optional."   
  
"Maybe we should go outside." I suggested.  
  
"Why? Don't want your make out partner to hear?" he spat back.  
  
"Dean, that's not fair."  
  
"No, kissing Jess wasn't fair." he said, "Complaining about it, that's fair."  
  
I sighed, "I didn't kiss him because I wanted to." I said.  
  
"No, I'm sure his lips just had a magnetic attraction to yours."  
  
"Dean, it was just-"  
  
"Is it like a bug in one of those bug lights? You just couldn't resist?"  
  
"I told you, I didn't- I could resist him. I didn't want to kiss him." I lied.  
  
"You mean kind of like you didn't want to kiss me?" he asked, sounding almost deflated.  
  
I suddenly felt very guilty, "I did want to kiss you."  
  
"I could tell. I mean, you make out with Jess for like an hour, I swear, your grandfather actually woke up from the length of the kiss.But then you go to kiss me, and within about a tenth of a second you pull away. That makes me feel REALLY important." he said, sarcastically.  
  
"I didn't make out with Jess," I lied, "It was just a quick, unimportant kiss. And I did kiss you, I just didn''t want to make out in front of...in front of-"  
  
"In front of Jess." he supplied.  
  
"No! In front of my dad." I lied again.  
  
"You made out with Jess in front of your dad, that wasn't a problem! Hell, I think your dad likes Jess more than he likes ME!" he said.  
  
Just then, like clockwork, Jess came over. "Do you guys need anything?" he asked with a smirk.  
  
"No." Dean snapped.  
  
"You sure?" he pressed.  
  
"We're fine Jess, thanks." I said.  
  
"'Kay, we're getting kind of busy." he said.  
  
"I'll be there in just a minute." I promised.  
  
"Good, because I'm not really looking forward to taking Miss Patty's order."  
  
"I swear, I'll be there in one minute." I said, "I'll take her order."  
  
He looked at a very annoyed Dean, "Okay. Bye, Bagboy." he walked away.  
  
"I hate him." Dean said.  
  
"I know you do." I admitted.  
  
"Well, YOU must not hate him too much." he said, somewhat bitterly.  
  
"Dean, come on. It was JUST a kiss."  
  
"Okay, it was just a kiss, so you're telling me that if it would've been me instead of you, and some girl kissed me, and I did what you did with Jess, that would be okay? If the roles were reversed, you wouldn't mind?"  
  
"No, if you had to go to...well, not a ball, but something, and I couldn't be your partner, and it was a RULE, then no, I would not mind." I told him.  
  
"Okay then, I guess it's just me." he said standing up.  
  
"Dean," I stood up.  
  
"Bye, Rory, maybe I'll see you later."  
  
"Dean, come on,"  
  
He ignored me and continued to walk to the door, once he got there, he glanced back just long enough to glare at Jess, and he walked out.  
  
I stared at the door for a second. Well, that went just great. I sighed and saw Jess coming over to me.  
  
"If you want to go after him, I can take Miss Patty's order." he told me.  
  
I was kind of surprised by his offer, he wants to help me make things better with Dean? "No thanks, I already said I would," I said.  
  
"You sure?" he asked.  
  
I smiled, "Yeah, but thanks for offering."  
  
He smirked, "That's how you can thank me," he said pointing to Miss Patty's table.  
  
I rolled my eyes playfully and took the pen and notepad out of his hand. I went over to Miss Patty's table. "Hi, Miss Patty,"  
  
"Rory, darling, how was the ball?"  
  
"Well, Prince Charming swept me off my feet." I joked.  
  
She smiled, "Yes, they have a tendency to do that. That's how I met Sinjin, though. How was Dean? Did you guys get the dance to go well?"  
  
"Oh, um, no, actually didn't you see Dean's broken arm?"  
  
"No. He has a broken arm?" she asked, surprised.  
  
"Yes,"  
  
"How did I not know that?" she asked herself more than me, "That's what I get for flirting with James Dean when your boyfriend's in here."  
  
I bit my lip to keep from laughing, poor Jess.  
  
"So, then how did you go?"  
  
"Um, I had a different escort." I answered.  
  
"Cute?" she asked.  
  
I stole a secret glance to Jess, "Uh, it was Jess actually."  
  
"Jess?" she asked, "Jess went to a ball?"  
  
"Yep,"  
  
"In a tux?"  
  
"Yep," I replied.  
  
"Ooh, I'd pay to see that," she said grinning at Jess, "Do you have pictures?"  
  
"Yes, I do." I smiled, "I'll show them to you sometime."   
  
"Oh, you're an angel."  
  
I chuckled, "Did you want something to eat?"  
  
"Let's see, I'll take..."  
  
When I finished taking her order I went over to Jess, "Well, Prince Charming, I hear Miss Patty's been flirting with you."  
  
"Yes, she's a crazy old woman." he said.  
  
"No, she's not, she's just a flirt." I replied.  
  
"Yeah, well, she's weird." he said.  
  
"Why? 'Cause she flirted with you?" I asked teasingly, "That doesn't make her crazy, that makes her human" I said. Cue the jaw in my brain dropping, did I just say that?  
  
He raised an eyebrow, "Really?" he asked with a smirk.  
  
"Well, yeah...'cause everyone flirts, or most everyone that is. I mean, I'm sure some people don't flirt, because some people shouldn't flirt. But, um - I'm coming Kirk," I called to Kirk, "I've gotta go get- yeah." I said to Jess. Then made a beeline to Kirk. Leaving Jess with a smirk on his face.  
  
"I didn't ask for anything," Kirk said.  
  
"Yes, you did, be quiet and order." I said.  
  
"But, Mother already made me-"  
  
"Order and I'll get you a new 'Jan and Dean' record." I said.  
  
"I'll take grilled cheese." he said quickly.  
  
"With or without crust?" I asked, scribbling in the notepad.  
  
"Mother always cuts the crust off of my grilled cheese," he said as if it were common sense and I should've known that.  
  
"Oh, okay,"  
  
"And my peanut butter and jelly,"  
  
"Okay, Kirk, without crust it is."  
  
"And my bologna, although she doesn't like to make bologna, I never get bologna, Mother says -"  
  
"Kirk, there will be no crust." I promised him.  
  
"Are you sure? Because crust gives me a rash."  
  
I went over to Jess, "Please get me a grilled cheese sandwich with NO crust before I pull Kirk's hair."  
  
"No,"  
  
"What?" I looked up at him,  
  
"Well, I'd like to see you pull Kirk's hair. I can see it now," he points to the middle of the diner, "Kirk's over there on the floor while you're pulling his hair, and he's crying like a little girl while he also kicks and waves his arms around wildly like a little kid whose parents won't get him the toy he wants. It's very funny, go ahead, I'll cover the orders for you."  
  
"Oh, you're hilarious." I said flatly.  
  
"I know," he nodded solemnly, "It's a fault, I try not to be."  
  
I smiled, "Will you get my grilled cheese Drew Carey?"   
  
"Aw, come on, aren't there any cuter comedians?" he asked.  
  
"Well, someone's head's big today." I said, "I wouldn't try to leave the diner if I were you, your head might not fit through the door." I teased.  
  
"Well, if I'm stuck here, you are too. Haha." he said.  
  
"Nuh uh, my head's not big." I said.  
  
"That's okay, you have to stay anyway."  
  
"Not fair."  
  
"Life's not fair."  
  
"Very profound." I nodded.  
  
"Yep,"   
  
"So, in case your head DOES get too big to fit through the door, why exactly am I staying here?"  
  
"Well," he said, pretending to be seriously condsidering, "You'd have to stay here to flirt with me and keep my head big."  
  
I blushed, "Who says I'd flirt with you?"  
  
"Well, you're human, aren't you?" he said, pretending to be conceded.  
  
"I've created a monster." I said.  
  
"This is true Victor Frankenstein." he agreed, "But it's soo easy to do, I mean, look at me," he continued.  
  
"I was looking at you all night last night, the only thing that's changed is no tux."  
  
He raised an eyebrow, "You were doing more than looking," he smirked at my reddening cheeks.  
  
"Hey people!" Mom called out coming into the diner, "I need coffee!"  
  
I was thankful for the interruption, "Hi, Mom, where's Dad?" I asked.  
  
"He's dragging behind me, some people have no energy." she shook her head.  
  
I poured her a cup of coffee, "There, oh wait," I changed into a stoic look and a gruff voice, "That's going to kill you."  
  
"Thank you, coffee would not have been the same without that." Mom smiled.  
  
"I know," I said in my normal voice.  
  
"Hey, kiddo," Dad greeted me walking in with a smile,  
  
"Dad," I hugged him, "Hi,"  
  
He looked down and tugged at my apron, "How very Donna Reed-ish of you."  
  
"His fault." I pointed to Jess.  
  
"Aw, Jess, you got Rory -a Gilmore girl- in an apron?" he smiled.  
  
"What can I say? I'm good." Jess nodded.  
  
"You're not the only one who can get her in an apron." Mom butted in.  
  
Dad and Jess looked at her. Oh, please don't bring this up. "Mom..."  
  
"Dean did," she said, ignoring me.  
  
"Wow," Jess glanced at me.  
  
"It was not because HE wanted me to, I mean, he didn't want me to, I was just dressing up, or something."  
  
"I was just saying," she replied.  
  
"Huh, I shouldn't be surprised, I can see him liking that concept." Jess retorted.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mom asked.  
  
"I can just see him liking the whole housewife, barefoot-and-pregnant type, dinner on the table every night thing, it seems very him." he said, "Personally I think it's a little much, but I can see bagboy liking that idea. Might want to but stock in red lipstick and heels." he directed to me.  
  
"I am not the red lipstick and heels type, I'm only playing dress up for you now, because you did last night."  
  
"Wow, that so calls for a dirty!" Mom said.  
  
"You're sick-minded," I pointed at her, "You're big-headed," I pointed to Jess, "And you're nice to them both." I pointed to Dad as I pouted.  
  
"Oh, he can do that but I can't?" Mom pointed to Jess in mock-offense.  
  
"Jess doesn't say dirty," I pointed out.  
  
"No, he just makes crude comments about going undercover, but said comment has absolutely nothing to do with police work." she said.  
  
"I know, but HIS was funny, because it wasn't directed at me, yours was directed at me."  
  
"But his was directed at me."  
  
"But you're not me,"  
  
"But you're my mini-me."  
  
"This conversation officially makes no sense," Dad said.  
  
"Most of their conversations end up that way." Jess said.  
  
"That's true," Dad agreed.  
  
"Hi; we're insulted." Mom said.  
  
"Our conversations always make sense." I defended.  
  
"Right, she said your comment had nothing to do with her, but I said it did, she said it didn't but I pointed out that it did because she's my mini-me so it would obviously have connection to her, too. So, you see, I was right."  
  
"Okay, so ramble, ramble, mini-me, ramble, you're right and the world makes sense again?" Dad said.  
  
"Exactly," she nodded, "See, he gets it," she said to Jess.  
  
"It took me over 17 years, give the kid a couple months at least." Dad said.  
  
"True, to the outside world we're probably very nonsensical people." I admitted.  
  
"But what outside world? We are all that matters. The world revolves around me, remember?" Mom said.  
  
"Right, I keep forgetting."  
  
"It's that Chilton, they're sticking things in your mind that aren't important, so you don't remember things like this."  
  
"Right, unimportant things like Physics, and Obscure Russian Poetry."I said.  
  
"Exactly, who needs to know those things when you forget that I am queeon of the universe?"  
  
"Wow, a second ago it was just the world, now it's the universe?" I asked.  
  
"Miniscule detail." she said.  
  
"Fine, but can I at least be your co-queen?" I asked her.  
  
"Of course, what's a queen without her co-queen?"  
  
"It's like Danish without coffee." I said.  
  
"Lucy without Ethel."  
  
"Luke without a backwards baseball cap." I added.  
  
"It's just not right." she concluded.  
  
We heard a 'honey' from one of the tables. It was Miss Patty, hoping to get Jess for a refill of coffee, with a side of flirting.  
  
I smiled, he looked at me, "I hereby promise that I will take care of Patty everytime that I'm here and she wants to flirt with you." I said.  
  
"Good girl," he said, "Now smooth out your apron and go take the order." he teased.  
  
I swatted him on the arm, "Yes, sir." I mock saluted, and walked over to Miss Patty.  
  
"Aw, I was hoping to get Jess' attention." she said.  
  
"He wanted to come over here, but my dad's talking to him, so, I had to. He says hi, though." I lied.  
  
"Well, when he's not so busy, will you send him over here?" she asked as I refilled her cup.  
  
"I promise. When he's not so busy, I'll send him over." I nodded and walked over to Jess. "I suggest you stay busy for the rest of your life." I said.  
  
"Why?" he asked.  
  
"Because, I have to keep my promises." I said.  
  
He looked confusedly at my dad to see if he had any idea what I was talking about.  
  
"When in doubt, just nod and agree." Dad advised.  
  
"Miss Patty was torturing Jess wasn't she?" Mom guessed.  
  
"No. Yeah, actually she was."  
  
"Ha! I was right again."  
  
"That was obvious." I protested.  
  
"But I was right, I am always right."  
  
"You are not, I'm right more than you are."  
  
"That's not true. Like what about that one time?"  
  
"What are you talking about?" I asked.  
  
"That time, when you said...the thing...and I said...the other thing and I was right and you were wrong." she said.  
  
"You are so making that up." I said.  
  
"Nuh uh, remember the time?"  
  
"No, because you can't remember something that never happened in the first place." I told her.  
  
"I'm right more than you are." she said.  
  
"No, you're not."  
  
We both crossed our arms, "I'm right more, right Chris/Jess?" we said in unison.  
  
Both men glanced at each other, then faced us and nodded. "Yes."   
  
***  
  
A/N: Someone help me, I'm in a BB mood right now, because I was reading 'I Love You, You Idiot' and now I'm having a problem with BB syndrome, but I'm a JJ so this is not good. Anyhoo, PLEASE REVIEW!! You all rock! And you'll all get your own mentions in the next chapter because you so deserved them in this one! And I swear I won't taka as long as I did, I didn't realize it had been so long. So, in summation, I suck, I'm sorry, please review, you rock, I won't take so long next time! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!! Thanky thanky! :)  
  
Lane WILL REALLY be in next chap, I completely forgot I was supposed to put her in, and I didn't want another 9,000 worder, so next chap: LANE!! 


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